Cardinals' Nolan Arenado took charge at Spring Training after leadership comments

It doesn't take long for storylines to emerge when the St. Louis Cardinals show up to Jupiter every February. While talk of a potential six-man rotation to begin the season has certainly caught the attention of many fans, it's the comments from Nolan Arenado regarding clubhouse leadership that seem to have gotten the most buzz.

When the Cardinals signed Matt Carpenter in January, the majority of the chatter from President of Baseball Operations John Mozeliak was about the leadership that he could provide in the clubhouse, even stating that both Arenado and Paul Goldschmidt were advocates of the Carpenter signing for that very reason.

When Arenado got to camp this past weekend, he pointed to the sense he got that the "young guys" ran the clubhouse last year and that they needed a voice like Carpenter to take some of the load off of Arenado and Goldschmidt's shoulders to lead the team throughout the season. Arenado was also quick to own his own mistakes in leadership last season, saying he found it difficult to have tough conversations with young guys when his own performance was not up to par.

Arenado's goal during Spring Training and this upcoming season is to let his actions speak louder than these offseason comments, and he got off to a great start before the club's first official full-squad workout.

Arenado was spotted leading the position player group before they hit the field on Monday for their first official workout, and while we don't know what exactly was said, it's clear that Arenado was ready to own the responsibility as the Cardinals' superstar of setting the tone for the season.

Arenado is a fiery personality who wears his emotions on his sleeve, but he's not naturally a vocal person. While it's unfair to expect Arenado to change in that respect, it is important to see him owning moments like this and taking the opportunity to lead from the front, while ultimately letting his work on the field be the ultimate tone he sets.