Weiss confident Arenado's fortunes at plate will change

CINCINNATI -- Rookie Nolan Arenado entered Monday hitting .228 -- not an average that lives up to the fanfare that came with his arrival -- but he has dazzled defensively. However, it's not fair to say that his glove is all that's keeping him in the lineup.

Arenado, 22, has had more than his share of hard-hit balls end up in the gloves of fielders, and he is surely battling the urge to press every time he looks at his average. Manager Walt Weiss continues to demonstrate his faith that Arenado's fortunes will change by keeping him in the lineup.

"Whenever you're not getting hits, it turns to being about the result, and you've got to make sure it's always about the process," Arenado said. "All I can do is try to hit the ball hard. I've been doing it, but they haven't been dropping. If I keep doing it, sooner or later those will fall."

On Monday night, Weiss used Arenado in the No. 2 spot. Arenado is aggressive at the plate, but he tends to make contact and at least foul off good pitches.

"He had a lot of hard outs, especially early on," Weiss said. "The trap that sometimes happens when you're not getting results is you tend to tinker a little bit. I don't think that's the case with Nolan.

"I'm not too concerned about Nolan, because he's going to hit up here. With young players, you want to make sure they're OK and not getting too beat up by the game mentally. He's barreled up enough balls in a short time up here to say he can hit up here."