"The greatest to play the position" - Cardinals infielder Nolan Arenado hails fellow 3B Adrian Beltre upon induction into Baseball HOF

Nolan Arenado congratulated his childhood baseball hero, Adrian Beltre, on his induction to Cooperstown on Instagram. Beltre received 95.1% of the votes and will join Joe Mauer and Todd Helton in the 2024 Hall of Fame class.

As someone who also plays Beltre's position, Arenado looks up to him as a role model.

“A little late here but I want to send a congrats to @BeltreA29, who was one of my favorite players growing up. To me, Adrian set the standard at Third Base and in my eyes is the greatest to play the position. Congrats on being elected to the Hall of Fame!” Arenado expressed on Instagram.

Adrian Beltre, 44, has spent 21 years playing in the league for teams like the Los Angeles Dodgers, Seattle Mariners and Texas Rangers.

After retiring in 2018 at the age of 39, Beltre became eligible for induction for the first time in 2024. His 3,166 hits and 93.5 WAR with a slash line of .286/.339/.480 was enough to be a first-ballot Hall of Famer.

Arenado also congratulated his former teammate Todd Helton, with whom he shared many memories from their time together in the Colorado Rockies.

“To my former teammate, @toddlhelton, very happy for you too. Todd was very influential to me and the first player I ever played with that I was scared to let down... Todd, thank you for everything. The greatest Rockie,” he added.

Nolan Arenado is gearing up for 2024

Nolan Arenado, after a disappointing 2023 season with the St. Louis Cardinals, is determined to lead the team from the front line in 2024. Although he was named an All-Star, Arenado is not fully convinced by his performance.

"I felt like my performance was really hurting this team, and that part was tough," he said in an interview with The Athletics' Katie Woo.

In September, the eight-time All-Star was ruled out of the tournament due to an injury, and the Cardinals finished last in the NL Central, missing the playoffs in 2023. However, he is now healthy and prepared to make a strong comeback in 2024.