Prospect Watch - Nolan Arenado

If you are a savvy Rockies fan, you have probably heard about Nolan Arenado more than a couple times. If you haven't heard of the 20-year-old third base prospect, learn the name quickly because his stellar 2011 campaign and his tremendous upside have put him at the top of the list of prospects in the Rockies organization. This means there is a possibility Arenado will land here in Colorado Springs, but he might be playing at Coors Field as early as this season.

Last year Arenado led the entire minor leagues with 122 RBI while with the Modesto Nuts and won the MVP of the Arizona Fall League on the league champion Salt River Rafters. After his tremendous 2011 season, Arenado was recently named the top Rockies prospect by MLB.com, the 22nd best prospect in all of baseball and the top third base prospect in the minors heading in to the 2012 season.

Under the direction of 2012 Sky Sox Manager Stu Cole, Arenado led the Arizona Fall League with 47 hits and 12 doubles in 29 games played for the Salt River Rafters. He totaled the second most RBI with 33 and total bases with 77, while also posting the third best batting average in the league at .388 and sixth best OPS at 1.059. The Rafters were made up of top prospects from the Colorado Rockies, Arizona Diamondbacks, Detroit Tigers, Houston Astros and Los Angeles Dodgers.

"I think Nolan really needs to be recognized for what he did in the Fall League at only 20 years old. I have been coaching in that league for four years now and I have seen a lot of great players who went there and did not do too well," Stu Cole said. "He didn't fold or get tired, and with his season in Modesto and the Fall League combined he basically played a full season at a very young age. He went out there and proved that he is ready to take that next step."

The Arizona Fall League was a continuation of an already impressive 2011 Arenado put together with Modesto, in his first Single-A season over 100 games. Arenado batted .298 with 20 homers, 122 RBI and 252 total bases, all ranking in the top-10 in the California League. Combining his California League and Arizona Fall League statistics, Arenado batted .315 with 26 homers, 44 doubles and 155 RBI in a total of 163 games played in 2011.

Along with the impressive numbers Arenado put up in the Triple Crown categories for Modesto he struck out only 53 times in 517 at-bats, only one more strikeout than he had with Asheville in 2010 even though he totaled 144 more at-bats with the Nuts. In addition, he was one of two players in the California League with more than 100 games played and less than 60 strikeouts. In the Fall League, he struck out only 14 times in 121 at-bats.

"The main thing that impressed me while I coached him in Arizona was his patience at the plate and the way he handled the advanced pitching in that league at this stage of his career," Cole said. "He does an incredible job of having great strike zone awareness and he doesn't go up there always trying to make things happen. He took what the pitchers gave him and he made the most of his opportunities when he had the chance to put the ball in play with some authority."

Originally drafted in the second round of the 2009 MLB Draft out of El Toro High School in California, Arenado has lived up to the hype surrounding his selection. He has batted at least .298 in each of his three minor league seasons, and has been a MiLB.com Organizational All-Star in his last two seasons with Asheville and Modesto. In 2011, he doubled his home run, RBI and walk totals from 2010 in only 42 more games played.

Arenado was named a Post-Season All-Star for Modesto last August and was selected to the All-Star Futures Game in Arizona last July. With his rising power numbers and plate discipline many scouts in the baseball community believe Arenado's near future lies in the majors, even though he has not played a day above Single-A ball. As a non-roster invitee to Spring Training for the Rockies this year, Arenado will get the chance to prove he is ready for the big time.

"It remains to be seen if he can make the jump up to the big leagues, it all depends on how he comes in to Spring Training and what he does with the opportunity he is going to be presented with at big league camp. It is tough for a 20-year-old kid to make that jump after he has only played in High-A ball," Cole said. "But he can definitely put himself on the map if he comes in and keeps doing what he did in the Arizona Fall League and in Modesto last season. He has the talent, the skill and most importantly the right mindset to make a statement so that even if he doesn't make the team the organization is really going to keep an eye on him."

Whether he spends 2012 in Double-A, Triple-A or even makes his MLB debut, Rockies fans should get familiar with Nolan Arenado because it looks like this 20-year-old prospect has already started an ascent all the way up to the mountain top that is Coors Field.