San Francisco Giants: Jonah Arenado Earns Cal League Player of the Week
San Francisco Giants’ prospect Jonah Arenado is the brother of a Giant Killer, but became a threat in his own right en route to winning Cal League POTW.
San Francisco Giants’ fans are used to watching Nolan Arenado torch their team, with his .317/.364/.622 career slash-line, 56 extra-base hits, and 77 runs driven in in 83 games against the Giants. Down in their minor league system, opponents of the San Jose Giants, San Francisco’s High-A affiliate, are experiencing some similar in recent days from another Arenado.
Jonah Arenado, Nolan’s little brother, has come alive for San Jose in recent weeks, turning a slow start to the 2017 season into a promising campaign for the 22-year-old corner infielder.
Featuring a swing that looks eerily like his brother’s, the younger Arenado had limited success in the first half and into the second half with San Jose. Over the first 91 games of the year, Arenado hit just .232/.269/.367, though he did collect 17 doubles and 45 RBI while splitting time between first and third base.
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Over the past two weeks, Arenado has found his stride and turned into a big threat in the middle of San Jose’s order. In 13 games, he’s hitting .453 (24 hits in 53 at-bats) with a 1.198 OPS. In addition, he’s collected eight doubles, a triple, a home run and driven in 13 runs. After striking out in 23.2 percent of his plate appearances in the first 91 games, he’s struck out just five times in his last 58 plate appearances (8.6 percent).
During that 13-game stretch, Arenado has put together eight multi-hit games, three three-hit games, and his first four-hit game in two seasons with San Jose. His overall season slash-line has shot up, rising to .262/302/.413 through this tremendous hot streak.
For his efforts during the week of July 31st to August 6th, Arenado was named the California League Offensive Player of the Week. He hit .480/.567/.880 in that stretch with five doubles, a home run, and eight RBI in seven games. Arenado is the second San Jose Giant hitter to earn that honor this year, joining former catcher Aramis Garcia (now in Double-A with Richmond) who won it during the season’s opening week.
Arenado was one half of a San Jose duo that swept Cal League Player of the Week honors, with right-handed pitcher Dylan Rheault taking the pitcher’s honor. Rheault made four appearances during the week, throwing 3.1 innings while allowing a walk as his only blemish and recording four saves.
Jonah is not Nolan, no one can make the comparison at this point. By the time the elder Arenado was his brother’s age, he was just about finished with the first season of what has become an outstanding Major League career. But Jonah is still only 22 years old, and has plenty of time to come into his own as a player.
Next: 3 Up, 3 Down: Winning Series against Arizona
It could be just a matter of time before an Arenado is making noise for the Giants in the big leagues, rather than against them.