It has been the year of the home run for just about everyone in baseball, but Colorado Rockies third baseman Nolan Arenado's power production seemed to have dipped slightly this season --
until Wednesday.
Arenado clubbed three home runs as part of a five-hit day, one of the best games by a hitter in Rockies history. It was Arenado’s first three-home-run game. He is the first Rockies player with a five-hit, three-homer game. His 14 total bases tied the team record, matching the 14 Jeff Cirillo had in 2000 and Larry Walker had in 2004. Arenado's seven RBIs matched a career high and gave him the major league lead with 80 this season.
Arenado also passed two Rockies legends in multi-home-run games with the team. His 12 rank seventh in franchise history, one ahead of Matt Holliday and Troy Tulowitzki.
A day of rest did Arenado good. He did not play Tuesday, and he came out fresh for this game. He has played in 94 of 97 games this season after playing in an NL-leading 160 in 2016.
Arenado had a 15-game homerless drought a couple weeks ago, but he entered the day with three home runs in his past seven games. He matched that in short order Wednesday.
Arenado entered the day averaging a home run every 20.5 at-bats this season. In the previous two seasons, he averaged one every 14.7 and 15.1 at-bats. His 104 home runs since the start of 2015 rank second in the majors, trailing Nelson Cruz’s 107.
Big games come in many ways
This isn’t the only huge game that Arenado has had in 2017. He hit for the cycle, capped with a walk-off home run, in a win over the Giants earlier this season.
Arenado is the fourth player in the past 25 years to have a three-homer game and hit for the cycle in the same season, joining Miguel Tejada (2001), Jose Reyes (2006) and Adrian Beltre (2012). The Elias Sports Bureau reports that Arenado is the 17th player to have a three-homer game and cycle game in the same season (baseball legend Joe DiMaggio did so in two seasons).
Coors Field is three-homer heaven
This was the 20th three-homer game in the 22-season history of Coors Field. Elias notes that that's tied with Tiger Stadium for fourth most in a ballpark. Wrigley Field, which has been open for 103 seasons, ranks first with 41, followed by Fenway Park (29 in 105 seasons) and Shibe Park/Connie Mack Stadium, the home of the Philadelphia Athletics and Phillies (21 in 61).