5 thoughts after Cardinals avoid sweep to the Giants

3. Where is Nolan Arenado?

The conspiracy theorists of Twitter will tell you he is just feeling upset that he didn't opt out of his contract this offseason for more money. In reality, Nolan Arenado is having a difficult time at the plate, even opting for an unusual off day just to work on hitting and clearing his mind.

Arenado was out of the lineup on Monday getting that work in, but he still struggled at the plate. He was 0-for-four on Tuesday with a strikeout. On Wednesday, he was 0-for-4 with two strikeouts. On Thursday, he was one for five with a run scored and one strikeout.

Thursday's hit-and-run was a good turn of events. The team is not accustomed to seeing Arenado struggle. Especially while the whole team is also working to do batter, hopefully, a trip to his home area of southern California to play the Dodgers will be good for Arenado. Hopefully, he can break out. The Cardinals need his bat in addition to his defense.