St. Louis Cardinals: Nolan Arenado has a postseason problem

In his first season as a member of the St. Louis Cardinals, a familiar foe continues to haunt Nolan Arenado. Simply put, the All-Star third baseman struggles to put together any kind of offensive presence when the lights of the postseason come on.

As the St. Louis Cardinals fell to the Los Angeles Dodgers here at Chavez Ravine on Wednesday night in the National League Wild Card Game, Arenado once again floundered in the postseason, going 0-for-4 at the plate and leaving five men on base in a 3-1 walkoff loss.

Nolan Arenado’s struggles at the plate in the St. Louis Cardinals loss against the Dodgers continued a postseason trend

In three postseason appearances (two with the Colorado Rockies in 2017 and 2018 in addition to this year with the Cardinals), Arenado is now a combined 4-for-25 with seven strikeouts along with just one home run and three RBI. His slash line in the postseason now stands at .160/.148/.280 with a .428 OPS.

Arenado is well aware of the history of winning in St. Louis and the Cardinals making appearances in the postseason. It’s one of the reasons why St. Louis was a destination for him when the Colorado Rockies made him available in a trade in February.

“I want to be a part of a group like this,” Arenado said shortly after being dealt to St. Louis. “The expectations are high. The fans’ expectations are to get there, to the playoffs. It seems like, ‘We’re the Cardinals. We should be there.’ I like that. That’s a cool feeling to be a part of.”

Arenado has already said that he won’t opt out before the 2022 season, meaning that he will be back in Cardinal colors as St. Louis attempts to once again make the postseason next year. However, can the 30-year-old Arenado finally find his October swing should the Cardinals once again make the playoffs?

There’s no question that Arenado was a key part of the 17-game winning streak in September that catapulted the Cardinals into the postseason. His 34 home runs and 105 RBI meant Arenado collected his sixth season with at least 30 homers and 100 RBI (the most seasons with those numbers of any MLB player since making his debut in 2013). He was also clutch during the regular season, totaling 50 two-out RBI, the second-highest total in all of MLB behind Adam Duvall (54) and most by a Cardinal since Albert Pujols had 51 in 2001.

Yes, Arenado was excellent once again during the regular season, but he’ll need to keep those numbers going when his team makes the postseason if he is going to find the championships and success he longed for while in Colorado and now chases with the Cardinals.