WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — Considering the white-hot intensity that Cardinals superstar Nolan Arenado brings to baseball — affixing his focus and fire to even the most mundane of Spring Training drills — it might come as a surprise to some that the perennial Gold Glover has given thought to when and how his career will end.
That kind of thinking, of course, runs totally counter to the manner that Arenado approaches his job and the relentless pursuit of perfection he grinds on daily. Even though he is likely a Hall of Fame shoo-in already and is universally regarded as one of the best-fielding third basemen in the game’s history, Arenado still pushes with the hunger and desperation of a journeyman fighting for a roster spot.
While that refusal to ever rest or relent in the slightest has helped make him great, that mindset also tends to take a toll on his 31-year-old body and his psyche. By his own admission, Arenado “burns hot” and his intensity usually has only one setting — blast furnace heat that torches everything in its path. Even Arenado wonders how his continual pushing for more plays in the Cardinals clubhouse.
“Sometimes, I think [my intensity] can be too much, and I know sometimes I really wear myself down because of how serious I take everything,” said Arenado, who had a single in the Cardinals 7-1 loss to the Mets on Sunday.
“I actually need to relax more,” he added. “I’m not trying to show people anything, but I do want to show who I am. To get to the levels I want, I have to be that way. With young players, I tell them, ‘You don’t have to do what I did, but this is how I got here,’ and I’m going to continue to get after it.”
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