Arenado Finds New Routine, Hits .329/.402/.592 After April 11
Nolan Arenado’s season turned after April 11 in Philadelphia. He turned a.167/.184/.188 line into.329/.402/.592 from April 12 through Sunday after changing his pregame routine, a shift that came after a brutal start with Arizona.
That change began only after Torey Lovullo used a pinch hitter for him the night after the Philadelphia game. Arenado then met with the team’s hitting coaches, and the group settled on one fix: a new pregame batting routine.
Arenado and Pujols
The adjustment had been in front of him for months. During the 2025 season, Albert Pujols told Arenado, “Vas a tener que hacer un cambio drástico en algún momento” and “Porque tu rutina no está funcionando.” Arenado had played with Pujols in the 2022 season, and the former Cardinals star also explained his own routine with, “Ésta es la única forma en que puedo prepararme.”
Arenado finally committed fully in Philadelphia. He responded with, “Ahora, supongo que eso es lo que tengo que hacer también,” and later added, “Ya sabes, si ‘La Máquina’ [el apodo de Pujols] tuvo que hacerlo, yo también tengo que hacerlo.”
Lovullo Sees The Shift
The numbers after that decision are the clearest marker. From April 12 on, Arenado produced the.329/.402/.592 line that stood in sharp contrast to where he sat after April 11.
Lovullo said, “Y ya sabes, desde mediados de abril, ha sido bien consistente con el plano de su swing. Ha sido muy consistente [reconociendo] bolas y strikes.” That matches the correction Arizona needed from a veteran who finished the 2025 season in San Luis with an OPS of.666, the lowest of his career.
Arizona’s Early Season Pressure
The slow opening made the change unavoidable. Arenado described that stretch by saying, “Fue bien difícil, porque yo pensaba, ‘hombre, ésta no es la forma en que quiero llegar a este nuevo equipo’.”
At 35, with 13 years of career behind him, he is no longer searching for a new swing. He is searching for the right way to get ready, and the new routine has already given Arizona a much better version of its third baseman.
