Nolan Arenado is gonna need a bigger trophy case

DENVER – Nolan Arenado has, to the surprise of absolutely nobody, been named the National League Player of the Month for July. It’s the 19th time in Colorado Rockies history that a player has earned the honor and the second time in Arenado’s career he’s done it.

Arenado slashed .389/.423/.744 with 8 HR, 30 RBI in July. This season he has accumulated 4.8 rWAR and is on his way to a fifth straight Gold Glove at third base.

In this, his fifth year, Arenado has cemented his name alongside Mike Trout, Bryce Harper, Jose Altuve and others as the game’s best positional players. With the improvement of the Rockies and Arenado’s continued dominance,  he’s clearly a candidate for this year’s MVP award.

Arenado, who leads the majors in RBI (95) and did so for July (30), reached 30 RBI in a month for the fourth time in his major-league career. This is third-most among active players behind Miguel Cabrera (six) and Albert Pujols (five). Arenado also set a Rockies record for most 30 RBI months. Matt Holliday, Dante Bichette, and Andres Galarraga all had three such months with Colorado.

In 2017 he’s already been a member of a gold medal winning Team USA club, the NL All-Star team, and twice been named the NL Player of the Week. Forget a larger trophy case; He might need a new one altogether.