Third base has become one of the deepest positions in today's Major League Baseball. Josh Donaldson, Todd Frazier, Manny Machado and so many more third basemen have made themselves into stars. And there is yet another player who is gaining national attention due to his stellar play in 2015.

For the first two years of his big league career, Colorado Rockies third baseman Nolan Arenado was revered for his phenomenal defense at the hot corner. This season, he has continued displaying impressive glove work - FanGraphs rates him as the best defensive third basemen in all of baseball - and now his bat is reaching elite level as well.

Through August 20th, Arenado leads the National League in total bases, and trails only Paul Goldschmidt for the NL RBI lead. Among third baseman, he ranks first in isolated power and second in home runs, RBI and slugging percentage, according to FanGraphs. He is also third in doubles and seventh in batting average.

"Nolan is entering that status, becoming an elite player in this league," Rockies manager Walt Weiss told Tracy Ringolsby of MLB.com.

Arenado certainly is becoming an elite player - his selection into last month's All-Star Game proved that - but it is not strictly due to his tremendous ability. He also possesses some intangibles that are incredible for someone as young as he is.

Perfect evidence of one of those is an incident that occurred last year, when Weiss pulled him from a game for not running out a ground ball. How Arenado responded to that symbolizes that he is mature beyond his age.

"He didn't pout. He didn't complain. He turned the page, and you have never seen him do that again," former Rockies reliever LaTroy Hawkins said, via Ringolsby, of Arenado's reaction.

"It changed my life," Arenado said, per Ringolsby. "It was one moment that was never going to happen again. It wasn't right It wasn't fair to my teammates."

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After his benching, Arenado proceeded to hit .336 with five home runs in August to finish the season on a high note. And it has carried over to this season, where Arenado has exceeded most expectations.

He has also blossomed into a true leader. Following the trade of Troy Tulowitzki to the Toronto Blue Jays, Arenado stepped up and welcomed that leadership role that Tulo left behind.

"If that's the case, that's the case," Arenado told Thomas Harding of MLB.com. "I play hard. I want to be a guy that wins. I want to win, and I want to win here. That's important. If people want to look at me as that guy, I'm not afraid to take that on. I'm OK with it."

If he continues to play like he has so far this season, his bat and glove will do most of the talking.

People are definitely taking notice, as they should. In a recent piece by Dave Cameron of FanGraphs where he ranked the Top 50 MLB players with the most current trade value, Arenado was ranked 14th. Ahead of stars like Donaldson, Madison Bumgarner, Buster Posey, Giancarlo Stanton and many others.

Back in late June, Jeff Sullivan of FanGraphs wrote this of the 24-year-old Colorado third baseman: "The easiest way to think of it is that the Rockies have Adrian Beltre at third base. Adrian Beltre, at two-thirds the age."

So in the future, when the topic of elite third basemen comes up, Nolan Arenado should certainly be in the conversation.

He has shown the talent, the production and the positive personal qualities to make him not only one of the best at the hot corner, but maybe one of the best young players in all of baseball.

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About the author
Heath Clary
I am a sports columnist and blogger. I mostly write about the MLB and college football, but I do a little of everything