Former Rockies Superstar Rudely Greets Former Team in Spring Showdown

The Colorado Rockies faced the Arizona Diamondbacks in their spring training opener, and an old friend victimized his former team.

Arizona Diamondbacks' Nolan Arenado. / Rob Schumacher/The Republic / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Friday was a strange day for the Colorado Rockies. It certainly wasn't strange to open the spring training schedule with the Arizona Diamondbacks at the Salt River Fields. What was strange was seeing Nolan Arenado in a Diamondbacks uniform.

Arizona acquired Arenado on Jan. 13 in a trade with the St. Louis Cardinals in which they shipped right-handed pitcher Jack Martinez to the Midwest.

The trade puts him in close proximity with his former team. Now, Arenado has come to Denver each season since he was traded away in 2021. But this is the first spring training that he's faced his former franchise in his career.

So, when he took his first at-bat on Friday, he faced his old friend Antonio Senzatela. And he hit a home run.

Nolan Arenado starts spring training by taking Antonio Senzatela yard in his first at-bat as a Diamondback😳 pic.twitter.com/P5hmFJpHjT

— DNVR Rockies (@DNVR_Rockies) February 20, 2026

Nolan Arenado Facing His Old Team

He spoke to reporters after the game and admitted that the feeling was weird facing his old team in spring training, especially on the same field where he worked his way up to the Majors.

Nolan Arenado homered in his first Diamondbacks at-bat today.

Going hard at Salt River Fields was nothing new, but it was a bit odd to do so against the Rockies. pic.twitter.com/gM8wAkoxbA

— Arizona Sports (@AZSports) February 20, 2026

“I don’t really know a lot of the players anymore,” he said. “I know Senza [Senzatela] really well. I love that guy. And I know some of the trainers that are still over there. I’m getting old so a lot of those guys over there I don’t know. Like I said, home runs off anybody, it doesn’t matter who it is, they always feel good.”

The Cardinals have been trying to trade him for the past couple of offseasons as they attempt to get younger and cheaper. Arizona is on the hook for the final two years of his contract, a nine-year, $275 million deal that he signed with the Rockies before the 2019 season.

The Rockies selected him in the second round of the 2009 MLB draft out of El Toro High School in Lake Forest, Calif. He made his Major League debut in 2013 at the age of 22 and quickly became one of the best offensive players on the team.

In eight seasons with Colorado, he slashed .293/.349/.541 with 235 home runs and 760 RBI. With the Rockies he won eight straight National League Gold Gloves at first base, won four NL Silver Sluggers made five straight All-Star Game appearances and was in the Top 8 in NL MVP voting for five straight seasons.

Colorado traded him in 2021 to the Cardinals for pitcher Austin Gomber, third baseman Elehuris Montero, pitcher Tony Locey, shortstop Mateo Gil and pitcher Jake Sommers.

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