Lake Forest to Two Thousand

The Bunt

In a 2008 high school league title game against Foothill, his team trailing by a run, two on and scouts watching, Nolan Arenado laid down a bunt to load the bases instead of swinging away. Coach Mike Gonzales was initially mad he did not swing. The next three batters came through, they won, and Gonzales later praised the selfless teamwork. (Denver Post)

Two Thousand

Arenado collected his 2,000th career hit on July 20, 2026, with the Arizona Diamondbacks — his third team in fourteen seasons. He is 35. Born in Newport Beach and raised in Lake Forest, California, where a street now carries his name, he was the middle of three brothers in a large competitive Latin family: seven nearby cousins, Wiffle ball on a greenbelt, late-night ping-pong, pool dunks from age five. His younger brother Jonah played in the minors; cousin Josh Fuentes reached the majors. He has said that drive to be the alpha in the group shaped his will to win. (Denver Post) The Rockies drafted him in the second round, 59th overall, out of El Toro High in 2009, and he signed for $625,000 instead of attending Arizona State. (Spotrac)

The Glove

He debuted April 28, 2013, and won the NL Gold Glove ten consecutive seasons, 2013 through 2022 — eight in Colorado, two already in St. Louis, where he spent five seasons before the Diamondbacks acquired him this year. Walt Weiss, his manager in Colorado, called him the best third baseman he had ever seen. Giants manager Bruce Bochy said he had not seen a better one then active. (Denver Post) Across 1,883 games, the career produced 367 home runs, 424 doubles, 1,230 RBI, and a .281 batting average with .504 slugging.

Through 96 games this season, he has 81 hits and 14 home runs. The career count stands at 2,002. He is still at third base.

Reporting: Denver Post, MLB.com, Wikipedia, Spotrac. Career and biographical data: MLB StatsAPI, via the Fever engine.