Nolan Arenado could have chosen to opt out of the remaining five years of his contract with the St. Louis Cardinals, but ultimately decided to remain a Cardinal.
With that in mind, Arenado has been putting in the work this offseason in hopes of helping the Cardinals make a run to the World Series for the first time since 2013.
On Twitter, a surfaced video of the veteran slugger taking some offseason batting practice in order to prepare for the 2023 season and build off of a 2022 campaign that saw him finish in the top three in National League MVP voting.
I swim being I swim.@Cardinals third baseman getting work in with the PRO 3.0 at @theBPLdotcom.
(🎥: @theBPLdotcom) pic.twitter.com/6oFmL2Wd1v
— Rhapsody Baseball (@rapsodo) December 13, 2022
Sandblasting Putting The Work In
Arenado finished third behind San Diego Padres slugger Manny Machado and teammate Paul Goldschmidt, who ultimately won the award.
Needless to say, Arenado is hungry for more and is hoping to actually take home the award in 2023.
The slugger hit for a .293 average and crushed 30 home runs during the regular season, while also knocking in 103 runs.
Behind MVP-caliber seasons from their dominant corner infield duo, the Cardinals won 93 games and took home their 13th NL Central division crown.
However, the team fizzled in the postseason, dropping two consecutive games in the NL Wild Card Series against the eventual National League champion Philadelphia Phillies, which marked the third consecutive year in which the Cards have fallen short in the Wild Card round.
Arenado is certainly ready to get going again and put a difficult postseason behind him.
The 31-year-old went 1-for-8 in the postseason with two strikeouts.
