BSN Exclusive: The journey of Nolan Arenado through the eyes of Jeff Bridich

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz – Before Nolan Arenado was widely known as the King of Clutch, before he was the supreme athlete we know today who rightfully commanded a $260 million contract, before he was the face of the franchise, he was just another kid trying to make his way in the Colorado Rockies organization.

It wasn’t as easy a process as you might think for the man who has become a perennial All-Star and is universally considered among the very best players in the game. There was for him, as there is for everyone in this game, a bit of a growing process.

He had to put in the work.

“Some of my earliest memories go back to his A-ball and Double-A days,” Rockies GM Jeff Bridich tells BSN Denver. “He was still a little bit chunkier. Still had a little bit of that baby fat on him.”

When Arenado appeared on the BSN Rockies Podcast, he told us all about his progression from that kid with the extra baby fat and slow feet into one of the best and most agile defenders the third base position has ever seen.

He gave massive credit to Jerry Weinstein, even joking that he may have to donate one of his (now six) Gold Gloves to the coach who got in his ear about putting in the work on that side of the diamond.

But there was one element of his game, both the most important and most difficult to analyze element, that was always there.

“I think the one thing that stood out clearest to me back then was that he knew how to drive a run home,” says Bridich. “You could just tell.”

Even in those days, Arenado just had a knack for getting it done when it matters most, something we saw again most recently during a basketball tournament of all things.

Fast forward a few years and he can be penciled in before any season begins to tally 100 RBI, and it will probably be closer to 140. He has consistently hit better the higher the stakes without exception.

While debate rages on about what exactly the clutch gene is or if it even truly exists, Arenado appears to carry it with him everywhere he goes and that was a pivotal part of why his GM knew he would be special long before most of us knew his name at all.

“There was a feeling that when he went to the plate – whether it was late in the game, in a tight game, whether it was second or third inning of a 0-0 game – he comes up with a chance at an RBI, there was just going to be some sort of a quality at-bat. While it wasn’t always going to be a home run or loud double, he just found a way to get the run home a lot of the time.”

You’ll have a hard time convincing Bridich that Arenado doesn’t have an ability to drive in runs considering it has long been the most memorable thing about him, something ingrained deep within the fabric of his very being.

“For a young player, that’s a really cool trait and a quality trait to have naturally ingrained as part of your DNA and that’s something that I always remember about him.”

Before the game-winning home runs, and All-Star games, and silver sluggers, and Gold Gloves, and before the walk-off cycle, Nolan Arenado showed a very small portion of the world that he was the type of person and ballplayer who could rise to the occasion even when almost nobody was watching.

And his GM was there to see it and dream on a future that would become the reality we all live in today.

Now, we are all watching.