Just getting this out of the way, Rockies third baseman Nolan Arenado's having a tremendous season. From the moment in 2013 when he debuted in the majors, he might have been the game's best third baseman. He was so spectacular in the field that he won a Gold Glove as a rookie, a rare feat.
Well, he's still a tremendous fielder, but this year he's become a tremendous hitter as well, currently leading the National League with 38 homers and 108 RBI.
Let's review, then: Fantastic fielder, big-time slugger ... what else could you want? Forget about Yoenis Cespedes; what about Nolan Arenado?
Okay, so I'm not sure what "in my heart" means, but it's funny how often the heart falls in love with bold-faced RBI totals.
Just looking at the facts, Arenado has a huge home/road split:
971 OPS at home
839 OPS away
He's actually hit 20 (of 38) homers on the road, but that's more than balanced by 25 doubles and triples at home (vs. 14 away). But the biggest reason for the sizeable home/road split is Arenado's batting averages: .318 at home vs. just .256 on the road.
It's been observed that playing a mile high obviously helps Rockies hitters at home, but (not so obviously) actually hurts them on the road. So we can't simply use Arenado's road numbers as a proxy for his "true" abilities.
What we can say is that yes, he's hitting on the road. Just not nearly as much as he's hitting at Coors Field.
In my head, Nolan Arenado's not my MVP. But he might well crack my Top 10.
