Nolan Arenado was rated as the top third base prospect in the entire sport by MLB.com's Jonathan Mayo on Thursday, when the prospect guru released his ranking of the top ten prospects at the position. The third baseman is considered to be Colorado's top prospect following a breakout 2011 season.
He should hit for average, and even if he doesn't hit a ton of homers, he'll be a run producer. There once was concern about Arenado's defense at third, but he's worked to improve and those worries are now gone.
Arenado, 20, spent the 2011 season in High Single-A. He turned heads with his impressive play, hitting .298/.349/.487 with 20 homers in 134 games. The lack of strikeouts in his game is particularly notable, as most prospects with his power potential strike out at a much higher rate than the nine percent figure that he put up last season.
The other players included in Mayo's top five were Minnesota's Miguel Sano, Washington's Anthony Rendon, Texas' Mike Olt and Detroit's Nick Castellanos.
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