Spring training is here and every year a handful of players will gather more media coverage than others. This offseason people in baseball were talking about Fernando Tatis Jr, Nolan Arenado, and Randy Arozarena more than others. These are the players to watch in spring training.
Fernando Tatis Jr.: Tatis has consistently been in the news since he made his debut for the San Diego Padres on Opening Day 2019 at the age of 20. That season he finished with a .317 batting average, 22 home runs, and a .969 OPS through 372 plate appearances. Among all rookies he finished second in OPS, second in batting average, and fifth in home runs. These stats from 2019 were enough to get fans and media buzzing about the potential Tatis has, but in 2020 he took it to another level. Last season he finished fifth in home runs, second in runs, eighth in RBI, sixth in stolen bases, and had the highest percentage of hard hit balls.
His stats speak for itself and show that he is a really great player, but not every great player is in the news everyday like Tatis. He turned into a polarizing figure when he belted a grand slam against the Texas Rangers during a game in August. The Padres were up 10-3 in the eighth inning, bases loaded in a 3-0 count and Tatis crushed the 3-0 pitch for a grand slam that put the Padres up 14-3.
After the game opposing manager Chris Woodward commented, " I didn't like it, personally. You're up by seven in the eighth inning; it's typically not a good time to swing 3–0. It's kind of the way we were all raised in the game. But, like I said, the norms are being challenged on a daily basis, so—just because I don't like it doesn't mean it's not right." The comment made news everywhere and people rushed to give support to Tatis after being called out for breaking an unwritten rule. This situation propelled Tatis to the forefront of media attention and to be seen as a future face of baseball.
This offseason Tatis made a couple big splashes. The first was being announced as the cover athlete for the video game MLB The Show 21. The other thing he did this offseason was sign a giant 14 year $340 million dollar deal that will keep the 22 year old in San Diego until he is 36. This contract is important because players normally don't sign long term big money contracts at the age of 22. For comparison, the best player in baseball, Mike Trout made only $6 million his age 22 season. Tatis made $219,185 in 2020 and is set to now make over $24 million in 2021.
Tatis is young, playing at a superstar level, making headlines, and now paid plenty of money. He has all the reasons in the world to watch him and most people already are. If you aren't watching Tatis this spring training then you are missing out on the most exciting player in all of baseball.
Nolan Arenado: Arenado is one of the best defensive third basemen of all time and has been in the news recently after being traded from the Colorado Rockies to the St. Louis Cardinals. The acquisition of Arenado is huge for the Cardinals as it puts them in World Series contention. Defense isn't the only thing he is good at either. He has hit over 40 home runs three times. He just missed that mark with 37 and 38 home runs in 2017 and 2018. Arenado is also getting better at not striking out. He finished third in strikeout percentage in 2020, 22nd in 2019, and 54th in 2018. A high amount of home runs and very few strikeouts is a rare combination for batters to have.
Arenado has won the Platinum glove four times in a row and is tied with teammate Yadier Molina with most all-time. If Arenado wins the award again in 2021 he will have more platinum gloves than any player since its creation in 2011. He is also an 8-time Gold Glove winner which puts him third most all-time for third basemen behind Mike Schmidt (9), and Brooks Robinson (16). Arenado is the favorite to win the Gold Glove again and should tie Mike Schmidt with the second most by a third basemen.
St. Louis will also be able to rely on his bat that has won him four Silver Slugger awards. It will be exciting to see how they pair him and Paul Goldschmidt in the lineup. I would like to see Goldschmidt bat third while Arenado bats fourth, but others have said they would prefer one of them batting second and the other third. There has been some naysayers on how good Arenado's offense actually is. Their main argument takes the stance that Arenado is a product of playing at Coors Field in Colorado with higher elevation and thinner air. Arenado isn't the only player that has received this treatment. Trevor Story, DJ LeMahieu, Todd Helton, Charlie Blackmon, Matt Holliday, and Larry Walker are All-Stars and Hall of Famers whos statistics have been questioned due to playing in Colorado.
Fans should be watching Nolan Arenado this spring training and 2021 season for his Hall of Fame defense and see if he will create history with the Platinum Glove. To see how well him and Goldschmidt do together, and see how he plays in a different ballpark. Arenado being traded has put him in the spotlight for this upcoming season.
Randy Arozarena: Arozarena made a splash in the 2020 postseason when he set the record for home runs hit in a single post season with 10. He also set the record for hits and total bases in a single post season as well. Essentially he had the greatest playoff run by a batter of all-time, unfortunately it came without a World Series title.
Before this breakout Arozarena was mostly unknown. The St. Louis Cardinals traded him to the Tampa Bay Rays before the 2020 spring training in exchange for top pitching prospect Matthew Liberatore. Arozarena was ranked as the number 17 prospect for the Cardinals on Baseball Americas 2019 preseason ranking. After the trade to the Rays he ranked as the teams 14th best prospect. Now heading into the 2021 season Arozarena still has his rookie status and is ranked as the number two prospect in the organization, and 17th best for all MLB.
A new change to MLB in 2021 that is sure to affect Arozarena is the deadening of baseballs. If the baseballs are being changed by MLB and Rawlings to reduce the amount of home runs then you would expect a player like Arozarena to be worse. However, he excels at making hard contact and putting the barrel on the ball. This skill should help transition him to the new baseballs. Another skill that is going to help Arozarena is his speed. He can easily stretch singles into doubles and doubles into triples. The extra base hits are always just as fun to watch as a home run, and we might be seeing more hits land just shy of the fence in 2021.
Arozarena is a must watch player this spring training after breaking into the record books. He is only 24 and has played just 42 regular season games, there hasn't been much to watch on him yet. If he can perform near that record breaking level for a full season or even half a season he will be one of the most dominating players of 2021. Arozarena is much more than just a home run hitter, he will be able to excite fans when he is on the base paths as well giving people multiple reasons to watch him this spring training.
These are my top three MLB players to watch in spring training. Fernando Tatis Jr., Nolan Arenado, and Randy Arozarena are three of the best players in MLB right now. Tatis is starting to breakout and show why he can be the face of baseball. Arenado is improving on a Hall of Fame career and looks destined to break a record this season with a new team. Arozarena is coming off the hottest stretch of post season baseball anyone has ever had and looks to build on that coming into 2021.
Feel free to leave a comment or suggestion down below or reach out to me on social media as I am always available for a conversation about baseball or any sport for that matter.
All stats from Fangraphs. All videos courtesy of MLB and Baseball Savant.
Featured image courtesy of Getty Images
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