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Nolan Arenado was making his way during the month of May when the Arizona Diamondbacks third baseman woke up one morning with an ailment familiar to those who felt invincible in their 20s but had moved on into their late 30s.
His back hurt.
Not bad. Not enough to keep him out of the lineup. But it was one of those inexplicable moments that come with being an aging major leaguer, threatening to derail a hot streak for an eight-time All-Star who just turned 35.
“There are more aches and pains,” Arenado said. “There’s just a little more work in the gym, getting ready for the game, than there was before. That’s a learning curve.
“I’ve always been in the gym, I’ve always done that stuff, but there’s definitely more maintenance.”
Arenado overcame the minor back issue and continues a bounce-back season in the desert, batting .256 with eight home runs and 30 RBIs through Monday’s games. He’s among a group of 35-and-older players turning in solid results at the plate, joining Los Angeles Dodgers veterans Freddie Freeman and Max Muncy, along with Houston’s Christian Walker.
But it is a small club that has become smaller in the last decade.
MLB hitters who are 35 or older have combined to provide just 5.6 WAR (Wins Above Replacement, according to FanGraphs) through roughly the first third of the season, continuing a trend that has accelerated over the past decade.
In the early 2000s, older stars were the norm in the major leagues. It peaked in 2003, when older hitters combined for 71.3 WAR, with a group highlighted by Barry Bonds, Frank Thomas, Kenny Lofton, Luis Gonzalez and Jeff Bagwell.
So what has changed?
Let’s look at some of the reasons why the MLB is getting younger today:
Analysis as younger players
Baseball’s analytics era dates back to the work of Bill James in the 1970s and 1980s, but terms like WAR, wOBA, BABIP, and OPS+ didn’t begin to become widespread in the major leagues until at least the late 2000s.
Suddenly, the vision test wasn’t enough for MLB general managers. There were cold and concrete figures.
And overwhelmingly, those numbers showed that the best years for a major league hitter typically occur in their 20s and 30s.
That’s directly related to MLB teams locking up young players on long-term contracts. Arizona’s Corbin Carroll, Detroit’s Kevin McGonigle, Pittsburgh’s Konnor Griffin, Kansas City’s Bobby Witt Jr. and Seattle’s Julio Rodriguez are among dozens of promising players who signed lucrative deals long before reaching free agency.
Spending on veterans is no longer fashionable. Walker, a three-time Gold Glove first baseman who has hit nearly 200 career home runs, signed with the Astros to a relatively modest $60 million, three-year contract after the 2024 season, when he was 33 years old.
“I think it has a lot to do with the ability to measure the value of guys on the field,” Walker said. “For a long time, WAR didn’t exist, wRC+ wasn’t a statistic, right? So you missed the optics of whether this guy is a good guy in the clubhouse or he’s experienced, he’s been to a World Series.”
The speed has skyrocketed during their races.
Today’s young stars have come of age in a game where speed is king, but that wasn’t the case when Freeman and others broke through. The average MLB fastball in 2026 is above 94 mph, with 18 qualified pitchers averaging at least 96. When Freeman debuted 17 years ago, the league-wide average was below 92 and no qualified pitcher averaged at least 96.
Arenado said one of the first things that becomes more difficult for MLB veterans is the ability to handle really good fastballs, particularly inside. This makes matchups difficult against pitchers like Milwaukee’s Jacob Misiorowski, who routinely throws 100 mph.
“I feel like the overall age levels and development are getting younger,” Walker said. “And there might be something to that, like your best bullets might be when you’re 27.”
Major League teams also value flexibility more now
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts has Freeman and Muncy in his lineup almost daily. He also played in the Major Leagues until he was 36, retiring in 2008, giving him personal experience of the aging process.
“The hardest part is expecting and wanting the same outcome you’ve always had, but not being willing to change the equation,” Roberts said.
Roberts said the process is different for each player. Some need to exercise more. Some less. Others need more sleep. Diet becomes more important. The tricky part is that the habits that got you to the big leagues may not be the same ones that will keep you there in your 30s.
Walker, who didn’t become a major league starter until he was 28, said he embraces getting older and enjoys analyzing his blood tests that could indicate what’s causing vitamin deficiencies or inflammation. The tests also show how much alcohol could affect your body or the importance of getting a good night’s sleep.
“For me, there’s no real magic bullet, I just chalk it up to being a late bloomer,” Walker said. “My age is older than most guys, but the service time isn’t. I haven’t been in the big leagues for 20 years or anything. It’s lucky I can still help the team.”
Arenado embraces change
Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo said he believed there were two main reasons Arenado continued to be successful in his 14th major league season. First, he gave credit to the D-backs hitting coaches.
But perhaps most importantly, Arenado listened to those coaches, embraced change and found new ways to succeed.
“There’s an adjustment in work habits and mindset once you get to that level where things aren’t as easy as they used to be,” Lovullo said. “Some people say, ‘I’ve had my career, it’s not as easy as before and I want to close it.'”
He later added: “It’s fun to see Nolan Arenado have all this success, but he’s worked hard. He’s working as hard as any 22- or 23-year-old player we have on this team.”
Associated Press information.
