Despite a 2022 MLB All-Star Game that will take place close to his childhood home, St. Louis Cardinals’ third baseman Nolan Arenado announced that he is out of this year’s event due to a back injury he has been battling through for the last month.
This year’s All-Star festivities will take place at Dodger’s Stadium in Los Angeles. The event was set to be more special than Arenado’s previous six All-Star games because this one would be played not far from the place where much of his formative years were spent and where he grew his love for the game.
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Unfortunately, Arenado revealed on Saturday before the Cardinals day game against the Cincinnati Reds that he will completely pass on the weekend celebration to address a lower back issue that he has been playing through for quite some time.
St. Louis Cardinals Nolan Arenado says All-Star game ‘is not really a break’
“It’s been a problem lately. Haven’t really had a whole lot of days off and haven’t had a whole lot of time with the stretch we have gone on and the grind we have been through. If this was earlier in the year it would probably be like a two, or three-day thing. Take off, you know what I mean? But we haven’t had the time to do that. It just doesn’t feel good. It’s been a grind for about a month now. Just trying to work through it. We have done a good job of working through it and now we are here toward the end, and it just didn’t make a whole lot of sense to go, you know, be standing around, be around a bunch of people. It is not really a break. The All-Star game is awesome. I’m pretty sad about it. But I’ve got to make sure I’m ready to go in the second half.”
Nolan Arenado on missing all star game
- Nolan Arenado stats (2022): .293/.359/.526, 18 HR, 59 RBI, 41 R
Arenado was set to be a reserve at this year’s game. He will be replaced by Atlanta Braves 3B Austin Riley. This is Arenado’s second-straight All-Star honors as a member of the Cardinals roster.