In early January, new Colorado Rockies manager Bud Black drove about an hour up Interstate 5 to the campus of UC Irvine for a little get-together with his new star player. Nolan Arenado is the face of the Rockies, and after grabbing lunch with him in November, Black wanted to drop in and throw some batting practice. Following the session, Arenado asked Black for a favor.

“I want to take some grounders,” he said.

Black was taken aback. He played 15 seasons in the major leagues and is in his 10th as manager, and he understood the way players’ schedules worked. “Very few big leaguers take grounders in January,” Black said, “because here comes February and March, and you’re gonna take thousands of them.”

Arenado insisted, and as Black stood across the diamond from him, catching the throws from third base, he was struck by the intensity with which Arenado fielded the ball and threw it. Black wondered if he was showing off for the new boss, and Arenado hoped he wasn’t thinking that, since he soon would learn Arenado’s excellence is matched only by the intensity in his preparation.

Once upon a time, Arenado was a middling third baseman, with soft hands and a strong arm but plodding footwork that rendered the other two tools inert. Now, in an era ripe with great third basemen, Arenado is arguably the best. He could very easily be known for his bat. With 22 more runs batted in, Arenado will cross the 130-RBI threshold for the third consecutive season, becoming the youngest player ever to do so and joining Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Jimmie Foxx, Vern Stephens, Ken Griffey Jr., Alex Rodriguez, David Ortiz, Ryan Howard, Sammy Sosa and Juan Gonzalez as the only others, period.

And yet he takes even more pride in his glove, named golden in each of his first four seasons and well on its way again, even when some of his finest plays involve nothing but a hand. It’s all the product of multiplying talent by hard work. Every other day in his offseason, starting in December, Arenado goes through a regimented routine to prepare him for the season ahead.

He starts on the back edge of the infield and takes 20 or 30 balls. Then he gets 20 on his forehand side and 20 on his backhand. It’s off to double plays next, with another 20 on each side. Following that: slow rollers Arenado can barehand. Finally it’s back to balls on the cut of the grass, well over 100 reps logged, more ready to go.

View photos Nolan Arenado has won the Gold Glove at third base in each of his four seasons in the majors. (AP) More

This fully realized, 26-year-old version of Nolan Arenado can be traced to his 20-year-old self at High-A Modesto, where he realized the raw talent that inspired the Rockies to spend a second-round pick on him wasn’t enough. Back then, Arenado said, “I had really bad feet.” And also: “I was too lazy.” It was a bad combination, one on which Modesto manager Jerry Weinstein harped.

“I would give him attitude all the time,” Arenado said. “We’d have a bus ride from San Bernardino to Modesto and would get in at 3 or 4 in the morning, and he’d say, ‘Nolan, you have early groundballs at 1.’ I wanted to sleep until 1.”

When Arenado slacked on the field, Weinstein barked: “Let’s do this right!” He encouraged Arenado to play in the field like Rickey Henderson did on the basepaths: crouch down, then spring forward to reach the desired spot. Visualizing Henderson helped Arenado. And the execution became easier when Arenado started lifting weights in earnest, providing the base for such explosive movements.

It’s not like Arenado’s feet were bad. He played elite club soccer growing up, and his duties as a forward entailed fancy foot tricks to score goals. The motivation to translate that onto a baseball field simply wasn’t there.

“When I was in high school, it was all about hitting,” Arenado said. “Now, if you can hit OK but are really good on defense, you can be a crucial part of a team. And that’s great. You’re starting to see more ballplayers getting credit for defense. Kevin Pillar can hit, but he’s recognized for playing a great center field. Same with [Kevin] Kiermaier. They’re known for changing games with their defense.”

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