Arenado, the younger brother of Colorado Rockies All-Star third baseman Nolan, was drafted out of high school by the Giants in the 16^th round in the 2013 MLB Draft, and he’s steadily moved up the organization each year. Coming to the minors at 18 years old has allowed Arenado to focus on building himself up, and it shows. He’s got a strong, developed build allowing him to play both corner infield positions while showing some strength in his hands and lower half.

Offensively, Arenado has shown some pop from the right side, and he currently leads the team with 11 home runs on the season. He holds his hands at the shoulder and sort of “sits” when loading, with some bat wiggle. His swing has some uppercut to it, and he looks to get his hands going quickly to pull pitches to the left side of the field. While this approach will let him crush mistakes and slower pitches up in the zone, there are times where his hands drop and he gets under pitches leading to pop-ups. He has a tendency to swing through pitches inside the zone (21% strikeout rate in 2016), especially on off-speed pitches to the outer half of the plate, and walks are an unusual outcome for him (just 6% for his career). Arenado’s swing showcases some pull-heavy pop, but this approach will also lead to him pulling his front shoulder open and hooking pitches on the outer half – or missing them all together. Good pitchers have been able to throw advanced sequences at him, getting him fishing.

His legs aren’t going to help him get on base or create much when on base as he profiles as a well-below average runner (4.5 HP-to-1B), so he’ll need to continue to work on his swing and utilize his power to help him have value.

Defensively, Arenado has played both third and first base in his career, and he has some pluses and minuses at both positions. His arm profiles to be a tick-above average at either position, and he’s shown soft hands with an ability to catch the ball well. At third, he doesn’t show the quickest reactions and tends to get flat-footed moving to either side of him. I’ve also seen him let his elbow drop on throws across the infield and this has led to poor accuracy, especially when moving to his glove side. At first, these issues don’t become as much of an issue since he can stay back on the infield, and he doesn’t have to move laterally as much. His arm allows him to make throws that most other first baseman can’t, and I think he will be better as he learns to handle himself around the bag. He looks more natural and confident at first base and has shown soft hands by saving infield throws in the dirt.

Overall, Arenado has continued to improve his stats lines at each level and he’ll need to be tested against high-quality pitching to see how good he can be. The swing and walk rates won’t help him get on base much, and that could hold him back, so he will need to keep slugging to reach his true potential. I can see him being a role player who can play both corner positions and be a power bat off the bench.