When the St. Louis Cardinals got off to a 10-24 start this season, one of the main culprits was the fact that Nolan Arenado was struggling at the plate.
Last season, the veteran slugger was a finalist in the National League MVP race, finishing third behind Manny Machado and Paul Goldschmidt, the latter of whom won the award.
But after a slow start, Arenado appears to be catching fire at just the right time.
He picked up two hits on Friday night against the Cincinnati Reds, including a two-run homer in the bottom of the first.
St. Louis pulled away with a 7-4 win.
On Twitter, Cardinals analyst Brandon Kiley took note of a recent trend for Arenado, listing his stats from his last 10 games, which show that he may be heating up.
Nolan Arenado in his last 10 games: 12-for-32 with 4 doubles & 3 HR. He’s starting to heat up. #STLCards
—Brandon Kiley (@BKSportsTalk) June 10, 2023
The Cardinals came into this season relying heavily on their stacked offense which includes stars such as Arenado, Goldschmidt, Willson Conteras, Tommy Edman, Nolan Gorman, and Brendan Donovan.
With Arenado not quite himself, the Cardinals offense was struggling quite a bit.
But now, the slugger is starting to heat up at the perfect time, as the Cardinals look to try and gain some ground in the NL Central and NL Wild Card races in the month of June.
As recent as Wednesday, the Cards had the worst record in the National League.
But if Arenado can stay hot, the Cardinals have a chance to make up some significant ground in a weak NL Central division.
The slugger is 12 for his last 32 with four doubles and three home runs.
NEXT:
Cardinals Rookie Had A Game To Remember On Friday
