Nolan Arenado Bio
Nolan James Arenado is an American professional baseball third baseman for the St. Louis Cardinals of Major League Baseball (MLB). Born on April 16, 1991, in Newport Beach, California, Arenado is widely recognized as one of the best defensive third basemen of all time. He is the only infielder to win the Rawlings Gold Glove Award in each of his first ten MLB seasons, and he is the only player to lead the National League in home runs and runs batted in during the same season. An eight-time MLB All-Star, a ten-time Gold Glove winner, and a five-time Silver Slugger, Arenado has built a reputation as one of the most complete players of his generation.
Early Life and Background
Nolan James Arenado was born in Newport Beach, California, and raised in nearby Lake Forest, an Orange County city between Irvine, Mission Viejo, and Laguna Hills. His father, Fernando, is of Cuban ancestry, and his mother, Millie, a native of Queens, New York, is of Cuban and Puerto Rican ancestry. He has an older brother, Fernando Jr., and his younger brother, Jonah, was a corner infielder in the San Francisco Giants organization. His first cousin, Josh Fuentes, is an infielder who has played for the Colorado Rockies.
Arenado grew up a Los Angeles Dodgers fan. He attended El Toro High School in Lake Forest, and played shortstop on the school’s baseball team with fellow future major leaguers Austin Romine and Matt Chapman. In 2008, Arenado’s junior year, El Toro won the California Interscholastic Federation Southern Section championship. He was named to the Los Angeles Times’ All-Star team after leading his division with a .456 batting average, 32 runs batted in, and 33 runs scored. As a senior, Arenado batted .517 with a .615 on-base percentage, five home runs, 14 doubles, and a triple, and committed to attend Arizona State University on a college baseball scholarship.
Path to Baseball
Rather than attend Arizona State, Arenado signed with the Colorado Rockies after the team selected him in the second round with the 59th overall pick of the 2009 MLB Draft. He made his professional baseball debut with the Casper Ghosts of the Rookie-level Pioneer League, where he batted .300. In 2010, he played for the Asheville Tourists of the Class A South Atlantic League, posting a .308 batting average and 41 doubles.
Before the 2011 season, Baseball America ranked Arenado as the Rockies’ third-best prospect and 80th overall. While playing for the Modesto Nuts of the Class A-Advanced California League, he began working harder on his defense under manager Jerry Weinstein, who tasked him with taking ground balls earlier than the other players and refining his footwork. He also began lifting weights in earnest, ultimately developing the explosive agility and finesse that would define his major league career.
Nolan Arenado Career
Early Career (2011–2012)
Arenado represented the Rockies at the 2011 All-Star Futures Game alongside Wilin Rosario and finished the season with a .298 batting average and 20 home runs, leading the minor leagues with 122 RBI. Later that year, he was named Most Valuable Player of the Arizona Fall League after hitting .388 with six home runs and 33 RBI. In 163 combined games in the California League and AFL in 2011, Arenado batted .315 with 201 base hits, 155 RBI, 26 home runs, and 44 doubles.
Playing for the Tulsa Drillers of the Class AA Texas League in 2012, he was again named to the All-Star Futures Game. He finished the year with a .285 batting average, 12 home runs, and 56 RBI, positioning himself as one of the top third-base prospects in the minors.
Colorado Rockies Debut (2013–2014)
Despite a strong spring training showing in 2013, the Rockies optioned Arenado to the Colorado Springs Sky Sox of the Class AAA Pacific Coast League to start the season. He was promoted to the majors in late April, going 0-for-3 in his debut against the Arizona Diamondbacks before recording his first three MLB hits and first home run in his second game against the Los Angeles Dodgers. He appeared in 133 games as a rookie, slashing .267/.301/.405 with 10 home runs and 52 RBI, and on October 29, 2013, became the first National League rookie to win a Rawlings Gold Glove Award at third base.
In 2014, Arenado set a Rockies franchise record with a 28-game hit streak and earned his first career National League Player of the Week Award. He batted .287/.328/.500 with 18 home runs and 61 RBI despite playing only 111 games due to a mallet fracture of his left middle finger, and won his second consecutive Gold Glove.
Rockies Breakthrough (2015–2017)
In 2015, Arenado became an MLB All-Star for the first time, tied Bryce Harper for the National League home run title with 42, and led the NL with 130 RBI and 354 total bases. He set a major league record for extra-base hits by a third baseman in one season with 89, surpassing Chipper Jones’s total of 87 in 1999, and won his first Silver Slugger Award. Defensively, he won his third consecutive Gold Glove and was the major league-wide winner among third basemen for both the Fielding Bible and Wilson Defensive Player of the Year Awards.
In 2016, Arenado hit his 100th career home run on August 8, becoming the youngest player in Rockies franchise history to do so, and won his fourth consecutive Gold Glove, becoming the first third baseman in MLB history to win four Gold Gloves in his first four seasons. On June 18, 2017, he hit for the cycle against the San Francisco Giants, finishing the performance with a walk-off home run off Mark Melancon, the sixth time in MLB history a player had completed a cycle in such a fashion. He finished 2017 with a .309 batting average, 37 home runs, and 130 RBI, and was selected to start in the MLB All-Star Game for the first time in his career.
Rockies Stardom (2018–2020)
On February 26, 2019, Arenado agreed to an eight-year, $260 million contract extension with the Rockies, the largest contract in franchise history at the time. He finished 2019 hitting .315/.379/.583 in 154 games with a career-high .962 OPS, winning his seventh straight Gold Glove and his third straight Platinum Glove. After the season, Arenado publicly stated he was unhappy in Colorado and had requested a trade.
In the pandemic-shortened 2020 season, Arenado batted .253/.303/.434 with eight home runs and 26 RBI in 48 games. He won his eighth consecutive Gold Glove Award at third base, tying Scott Rolen for the third-most Gold Gloves at the position, and remained with Colorado through the end of his tenure.
St. Louis Cardinals Era (2021–Present)
On February 1, 2021, the St. Louis Cardinals acquired Arenado from the Rockies along with $51 million in exchange for Austin Gomber, Mateo Gil, Tony Locey, Elehuris Montero, and Jake Sommers. He hit his first home run as a Cardinal on March 29, 2021, at Great American Ball Park, and finished the season batting .255/.312/.494 with 34 home runs and 105 RBI. He won his ninth consecutive Gold Glove, tying Mike Schmidt for the most consecutive awards by a National League third baseman, and chose not to opt out of his contract after the season.
In 2022, Arenado hit for his second career cycle on July 1 against the Philadelphia Phillies at Citizens Bank Park. On July 2, he hit the first of four consecutive Cardinals home runs off Kyle Gibson, an 11th such occurrence in major league history and the first in the first inning of a major league game. He finished 2022 batting .293/.358/.533 with 30 home runs and 103 RBI, winning his tenth consecutive Gold Glove, his sixth consecutive Platinum Glove, and his fifth Silver Slugger. On April 8, 2023, he hit his 300th career home run against Brewers pitcher Eric Lauer and was named an All-Star for the eighth time. In 2024, his season was limited by injuries to 16 home runs, his fewest in a full season since his rookie year, and he did not make the All-Star Game for the first time since 2014.
Driving Style and Strengths
Arenado is exceptionally skilled in range, catching, and throwing, including arm strength and accuracy, even while throwing off-balance. He is known to practice intensely and often, sometimes taking ground balls in January when most major leaguers are still resting. He wears an oversized glove to give him more margin for error, and his longtime preparation has helped him combine explosive vigor, ingenuity, and finesse into one of the most complete defensive packages in baseball history.
Notable Events and Milestones
Arenado became the first third baseman and first Rockies player to drive in 130 or more runs in three consecutive seasons (2015–2017). He is the only infielder to win the Rawlings Gold Glove Award in each of his first ten MLB seasons and tied Ichiro Suzuki for the most consecutive Gold Gloves to start a career. He reached 350 career home runs in 2025, becoming the seventh player in history to hit 350 home runs while also earning at least 10 Gold Gloves, joining Johnny Bench, Mike Schmidt, Willie Mays, Ken Griffey Jr., Andruw Jones, and Al Kaline.
Nolan Arenado Career Wins and Honors
Arenado’s career has been defined by an extraordinary combination of defensive excellence and offensive production. He is an eight-time MLB All-Star, a ten-time Rawlings Gold Glove Award winner, a six-time Rawlings Platinum Glove Award winner, and a five-time Silver Slugger Award winner. He has also won four Fielding Bible Awards, three consecutive Wilson Defensive Player of the Year Awards, and two National League Player of the Month Awards.
Major League Highlights
Arenado debuted in the majors on April 28, 2013, and recorded his first career hit and home run the next day against the Los Angeles Dodgers. He won his first Gold Glove as a rookie in 2013, became an All-Star for the first time in 2015, and led the National League in both home runs and RBI that same season. He was a finalist for the NL Most Valuable Player Award in 2017, 2018, 2019, and 2022, finishing as high as third in 2018.
International Highlights
Arenado has represented the United States in the World Baseball Classic. In the 2017 WBC, he helped Team USA defeat previously undefeated Puerto Rico 8–0 to capture the program’s first-ever WBC championship. He returned for the 2023 WBC, posting a .385 batting average and a 1.025 OPS as Team USA’s starting third baseman, and reached the finals before falling to Japan 3–2.
Nolan Arenado Family
Family Background and Racing Lineage
Arenado’s family is rooted in baseball. His father, Fernando, is of Cuban ancestry, and his mother, Millie, a native of Queens, New York, is of Cuban and Puerto Rican ancestry. His older brother, Fernando Jr., and his younger brother, Jonah, also played baseball, with Jonah having been a corner infielder in the San Francisco Giants organization. His first cousin, Josh Fuentes, has played as a third baseman for the Colorado Rockies.
Personal Life
Arenado married his high school sweetheart, Laura Kwan, in December 2019. Their first child, a daughter, was born in August 2022. Arenado’s favorite players growing up were fellow third baseman Adrián Beltré of the Texas Rangers and Rockies teammate and outfielder Matt Holliday, whose swing Arenado has long studied and tried to emulate. Arenado is a Christian and has a tattoo on his left forearm that says Matthew 19:26. He also has a street named after him in his hometown of Lake Forest, California.
2025 Season Performance
Entering the 2025 season, Arenado is in the second half of an eight-year, $260 million contract with the St. Louis Cardinals that runs through 2027. He reached 350 career home runs in 2025, becoming the sixth active player to reach the milestone and the seventh in major league history to combine 350 home runs with at least 10 Gold Gloves. The milestone placed him in a group that includes Johnny Bench, Mike Schmidt, Willie Mays, Ken Griffey Jr., Andruw Jones, and Al Kaline.
After a 2024 season limited by injuries, Arenado returned to his familiar role as the Cardinals’ everyday third baseman and a middle-of-the-order run producer alongside Paul Goldschmidt and the rest of the St. Louis lineup. Defensively, he remains one of the most reliable third basemen in the National League, and his veteran presence in the clubhouse continues to shape a Cardinals team aiming to return to postseason contention.