How Nolan Arenado’s family helped get his gloves ready for prime time

Colorado Rockies All-Star Nolan Arenado is one of the best defensive third basemen to ever play the game. He won the National League Platinum Glove last year as he won his fifth consecutive Rawlings Gold Glove Award.

The versatile National League Most Valuable Player candidate can do it all, but his glove work may be the strongest part of his brilliant game.

He is one of those people who doesn’t play well with others when it comes to his gloves.

“I’d rather not have anyone touch [my gloves],” Arenado told La Vida Baseball.“I don’t like when people put their hand in them. They can hold it or grab it but they can’t put their hands in it. That’s something that I’m very serious about, and [my teammates] know that. I love my glove.”

Just Right

With the exception of designated hitters, most players consider their gloves as their more personal possessions. Many won’t mess with their leather. How their glove gets broken in is part of the ritual of baseball.

For a player who is exceptional defensively, treatment of the glove can be almost religious. Many won’t share their glove with teammates, much less the secrets of how they got the glove to be just right.

Arenado’s prowess is well known. Watching him warm up before a game is a masterclass in footwork and reflexes.

Before Game 1 of the National League Division Series in Milwaukee, Arenado took grounders to both sides. He took some starting from the outfield grass, others positioned well off the third base line and others from the front edge of the infield dirt.

Expectedly, his footwork was consistently impeccable. His hands were soft, and every throw was true.

Clearly Arenado has the right glove on his hand.

Perfect fit

So how does an elite defensive player like his glove?

“I feel like I can feel a glove right when I get it and can tell like if it’s going to be a gamer or not,” he said. “It has to be kind of floppy, worked in. That’s the way I like it. I don’t like it stiff.”

When pressed for how he’s broken in his gloves over the years, Arenado shared that he used a personal farm system to get his gloves ready for the big leagues.

The official breaker in of gloves early in Arenado’s career: Jonah Arenado.

Jonah is now a 23-year-old third baseman in the San Francisco Giants organization. Before he was drafted in the 16th round of the 2013 Draft by the Giants, Jonah was at El Toro High School in Lake Forest, Calif.

“My first couple years in the big leagues my younger brother [Jonah] was in high school,” Nolan remembered. “I used to send him my gloves and tell him to work them in for me because he would work them floppy. I would get it back and I would use that glove the next year.”

Featured Image: La Vida Baseball

Inset Images: La Vida Baseball