The Rockies’ Nolan Arenado would have been all-star this season if he hadn’t gotten hurt his spring says Texas Rangers all-star third baseman Adrian Beltre. (Tony Gutierrez, The Associated Press)
Minneapolis — Chances are, if 23-year-old Rockies third baseman Nolan Arenado had not broken his finger sliding into a second base on that fateful Friday night in Atlanta, he would be here for the 85th All-Star Game.
Thatap not just my opinion, itap the viewpoint of Rangers all-star third baseman Adrian Beltre, who’s been selected to his fourth Midsummer Classic.
“No doubt he’ll be an all-star,” Beltre said Monday afternoon. “He’s not here because he got hurt. Everything you want in a player, he has. Defensively, he’s unbelievable, Offensively, he’s doing better that he was last year.
“You hate to see a player of his stature get hurt. But I think you will see him (in this game) for many years.”
Arenado has played in only 59 games and is hitting .289 with six homers and 30 RBIs. He’s got a lot of growing to do, no doubt, but he certainly caught the eye of Beltre, who played the Rockies four times earlier this season.
Arenado has said he idolized Beltre as a kid, something Beltre finds a little disconserting.
“It makes me feel old,” the 35-year-old Beltre said with a laugh. “Itap always nice in baseball to know that somebody else looks up to you. Itap humbling, but itap nice to see that what you have done is appreciated by somebody. As good as he is, to know that he idolized you, itap nice.”
Beltre said that he gave Arenado a gift when the two met in spring training, but he declined to say what it was.
“I don’t like to say what it is, but the first time we met in spring training, I have him a nice gift,” Beltre said.
Tags: Adrian Beltre, Nolan Arenado
