BALTIMORE -- There are times when Nolan Arenado lets down his guard ever so briefly and allows himself to stare into the 10 NL Gold Glove Awards he’s won, and those shiny statuettes simultaneously spark nostalgia and stoke his hunger for more.
“When you’re in the middle of a season or in the middle of your career, you don’t think about winning that many of them,” admitted Arenado, one of just two players in history (Hall of Fame Ichiro Suzuki is the other) to win 10 Gold Gloves in his first 10 MLB seasons. “But then when you lose [the Gold Glove], you want to get it back. And it also dawns on you, ‘Damn, that was a pretty awesome run, wasn’t it?’”
As much as those 10 awards mean to Arenado -- and they almost guarantee that he will end up in Cooperstown in the National Baseball Hall of Fame someday -- he recently revealed something that others in the game might find hard to believe. Two seasons removed from being recognized as the National League’s best defensive third baseman, Arenado said a potential 11th Gold Glove would move to the forefront of all the others in his impressive trophy case.
“That would mean a lot, and I would love to win it again,” Arenado told MLB.com. “It would probably be the most special one if I could get that back again.”
Arenado showed during a recent three-game series sweep over the D-backs why he is still one of the game’s greats. Despite being moved down to No. 6 in the order due to his offensive struggles, Arenado won Game 1 on Friday with a three-run triple. In Game 2, he dove to his left and made a spectacular stop that prevented the tying run from scoring. And on Sunday, when Arenado raced into foul territory to snag a popup, his momentum carried him into the netting, where his lower back collided with the arm of a steel chair. The searing pain near his left kidney knocked the wind from him.
“That was a little tough, and I’ve never had that feeling before, so it was a little scary,” said Arenado, who stayed in the game. “It was a great play and a great win for us.”
Now 34 years old and feeling many of the aches from running into seats, tarps and walls, Arenado worked through the winter and throughout this surprising season for the Cardinals to put himself in position to potentially win another Gold Glove. Arenado’s six Outs Above Average are tied for first among all MLB third basemen with Pittsburgh’s Ke’Bryan Hayes -- the player who ended Arenado’s 10-year Gold Glove reign in 2023. (Giants third baseman Matt Chapman, the runaway winner in ’24, is two back with four OAA.) Arenado’s defense is a primary reason why the Cardinals (27 Outs Above Average) are far and away MLB’s best defense statistically in 2025.
That Arenado is still so hungry -- even desperate, at times -- for greatness boggles the minds of many of his teammates. On a recent flight, Cardinals players were comparing Arenado’s career accomplishments -- eight All-Star Games, six Platinum Glove Awards, five Silver Slugger honors and the 10 Gold Gloves -- to the rest of the team combined. The fact that Arenado has done all of that and still hits in batting cages until his hands hurt and takes grounders hours before games does not go unnoticed.
“He’s very intentional, and I enjoy watching him work,” veteran pitcher Sonny Gray said. “I watch a lot of what he does, and I know I can learn a lot from him. He wants to be great -- and he still is great -- but he’s not content with just being this name. He’s continuing to strive to be great every day.”
Another Cardinals great, Hall of Famer Scott Rolen, holds the NL record for the most years (four) between Gold Glove Awards for a third baseman (2006 and ’10). Evan Longoria has the longest mark (seven years) for any third baseman between Gold Glove wins (2010 and ’17). Arenado last won one in ’22. He said it has felt like a lifetime since he’s been on top defensively, and that’s why he’s pushing so hard this season.
Arenado has taken two tumbles into the seats this season to make catches, but his favorite play remains the off-balance throw he made to home to home to nail Brewers speedster Jackson Chourio and preserve a 3-2 win on April 25. The reason: It sparked a memory of a time when he was still baseball’s gold standard at third base.
“It reminded me of when I was young with me moving like that again,” he said with a sly smile. “So, that was a cool feeling.”