Nolan Arenado has been on an absolute tear lately

Rockies third baseman Nolan Arenado had another big game on Sunday despite losing to the Giants, as he went 2-for-4 with a two-run home run and a solo homer. It’s his third multi-homer effort in his last six games, and he’s now on a 15-game hitting streak. During that streak, Arenado is batting .379/.410/.966 with nine home runs and 21 RBI.

If Todd Frazier weren’t in the National League, Arenado would be a lock to start at third base in the All-Star Game. Here’s a comparison of the two players:

	PA	HR	RBI	SB	AVG	OBP	SLG	fWAR
Frazier	326	25	53	8	.287	.350	.618	4.3
Arenado	301	24	68	0	.293	.326	.632	3.4

Arenado, 24, will become eligible for arbitration for the first time after this season. As a result, the Rockies will be under some pressure to sign him to a contract extension which would cover some or all four years of his arbitration eligibility and potentially a year or two beyond that.

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The Pirates are officially shutting down Chris Archer for the season, GM Neal Huntington revealed Sunday. It’s more of a formality than anything else, but, as the Pirates are currently out of postseason contention, there seems to be no point in forcing the right-hander to accelerate his recovery from right shoulder inflammation.

Archer, 30, sustained the injury in late August and was initially projected to return sometime during September. He’s been throwing from flat ground over the last several weeks, but there had been no indication that he was ready to resume starting duties for the club. He’ll end his 2019 run with a 3-9 record in 23 starts and a 5.19 ERA, 4.1 BB/9, 10.8 SO/9, and 0.7 fWAR across 119 2/3 innings pitched; not his worst performance to date, but a considerable step down from the sub-5.00 ERA and 2.6 fWAR he posted with the Rays and Pirates in 2018.

With two weeks left in the regular season, the Pirates will soon wrap up their fourth consecutive non-contending campaign. Following Saturday’s brutal 14-1 loss to the Cubs, they were mathematically eliminated from postseason qualification. They last reached the playoffs in 2015, though it’s been six years since they advanced past the wild card tiebreaker and 27 years since they advanced past the Division Series.