St. Louis Cardinals third baseman Nolan Arenado hits a solo home run against the Chicago White Sox. Kamil Krzaczynski-Imagn Images

Nolan Arenado joins exclusive company with milestone home run

By Aaron Somers | Last updated Jun 19, 2025 11:02 PM ET

Already viewed as one of the game's greatest defensive third basemen and likely assured of a future place in the Hall of Fame, Nolan Arenado joined some exclusive company with a milestone home run on Thursday.

After rain postponed Wednesday's game with the White Sox, the two teams came to Chicago's Rate Field on Thursday to play a doubleheader. The homer came with a little drama, as MLB.com's Casey Drottar writes:

"During Game 1 of Thursday's doubleheader against the White Sox at Rate Field, Nolan Arenado slugged a 358-foot, first-inning flyout to left field.

"Eleven innings and one game later, Arenado hit a ball to nearly the exact same spot. This time, he put enough on it to get the ball over the wall and cement the history he barely missed earlier in the day."

Nolan Arenado hits 350th career homer Nolan Arenado hits a homer to left, his 350th of his career, extending the Cardinals' lead to 4-1 in the 3rd
— MLB Home Runs (@mlbhomeruns.bsky.social) 2025-06-19T22:38:32.740006Z

Arenado's 350th career home run put him in some exclusive company.

Only six active players have reached the 350-homer mark. The others are: Giancarlo Stanton, Mike Trout, Paul Goldschmidt, Manny Machado and Freddie Freeman.

Arenado is also just the seventh player in the sport's history to reach the mark while also winning 10 or more Gold Glove Awards, joining Johnny Bench, Mike Schmidt, Willie Mays, Al Kaline, Ken Griffey Jr. and Andruw Jones. Five of the six are enshrined in the Hall of Fame. Only Jones has yet to be honored in Cooperstown.

Over his 13-year career, Arenado is a .283/.340/.511 (119 OPS+) hitter with 10 Gold Gloves, six Platinum Gloves, five Silver Sluggers and eight All-Star appearances. The lone accomplishment remaining would be winning a ring.

Arenado was the subject of countless trade rumors throughout the offseason as the Cardinals actively looked to move some of their veteran players. A deal with the Houston Astros was close at one point, but Arenado used his no-trade clause to veto the move. The Cardinals were not expected to complete this season, with the organization's front office in a full transition period. After winning both games on Thursday, they sit with a 40-35 record, 5.5 games behind the Cubs in the NL Central and in prime position to grab the final wild-card spot.

Aaron Somers

Aaron Somers has more than a decade of experience writing about sports and has been published in numerous outlets, but baseball is and has always been his biggest passion. You can follow him on BlueSky, @AaronJSomers.

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