St. Louis Cardinals Star Nolan Arenado Leaves Game Early With Elbow Injury

Nolan Arenado was hit by a pitch during the St. Louis Cardinals' loss to the Miami Marlins on Wednesday, knocking him out of the game with a right elbow contusion.

Jun 19, 2024; Miami, Florida, USA; St. Louis Cardinals third baseman Nolan Arenado (28) gets looked at by a trainer and manager Oliver Marmol (37) after getting hit by a pitch during the eighth inning against the Miami Marlins at loanDepot Park. / Sam Navarro-USA TODAY Sports

Third baseman Nolan Arenado left Wednesday's game between the St. Louis Cardinals and Miami Marlins early with an injury.

Arenado got hit by a pitch in the right elbow in the top of eighth inning and immediately went to the ground in pain. The Cardinals' training staff and manager Oliver Marmol ran out to the batter's box and helped the veteran back to the dugout.

St. Louis later announced that Arenado had suffered a right elbow contusion and was undergoing further medical evaluation.

The game was tied 3-3 when Arenado got hurt and José Fermín took his spot in the lineup. The Marlins went on to score in the bottom of the ninth and clinch their second straight walk-off win over the Cardinals.

Nolan Arenado came out of the game after getting hit with a pitch in the forearm pic.twitter.com/dx2huMpxC4

— Talkin’ Baseball (@TalkinBaseball_) June 19, 2024

Arenado finished the afternoon 2-for-3 with a run, a stolen base and a hit-by-pitch. He is now batting .260 with six home runs, 32 RBI and a .690 OPS on the season, although his batting average and OPS sit at .296 and .703 over his last seven games.

Those numbers suggest Arenado's streak of eight consecutive All-Star appearances could come to an end this summer. He ranked sixth among NL third baseman in All-Star votes as of Monday, and missing time with an elbow injury likely wouldn't help him make up any ground.

The 33-year-old is a .285 hitter with an .862 OPS for his career, racking up 1,737 hits, 331 home runs, 1,093 RBI and a 54.4 WAR. He has won 10 Gold Gloves and five Silver Sluggers dating back to his rookie season with the Colorado Rockies in 2013, placing top 10 in NL MVP voting six separate times.

It remains to be seen if Arenado will need to spend any time on the injured list. He has appeared in 70 of the Cardinals' 73 regular season games thus far in 2024.

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