Just hours after being acquired by the San Diego Padres, Luis Arraez went off in his first game with his new team.
Arraez arrived in Phoenix on Saturday to take on the Diamondbacks and two hours later went 4-6 with two runs scored and an RBI while batting leadoff for the Padres.
Fans are going wild after his epic performance.
Codify – “4+ hits in their first game with an MLB team: Nobody had ever had a 4-hit game in their debut as a San Diego Padres before Luis Arráez did it tonight!”
Talking Friars – “Gosh Luis Arraez is gonna be so fun to watch every night”
Mark Bartlett – “MAY THE 4TH BE WITH YOU, PADRES FANS! Welcome to San Diego, Luis Arraez!”
MLB compared him to a different Padres player – “Tony Gwynn through 569 career games: .326/.378/.427 with 25 HR Luis Arraez through 569 career games: .324/.377/.423 with 24 HR”
Clark Farenthold – “It took Luis Arráez just 2 pitches to collect his first hit as a member of the San Diego Padres.”
Padres trade prospects for Luis Arraez
The Padres acquired two-time batting champion Luis Arraez from the Miami Marlins along with nearly $8 million on Saturday in a deal for four players that left San Diego responsible only for the major league minimum salary.
Arraez commented on the deal on social media:
“I want to thank the Marlins for the opportunity and my teammates for making me feel like part of the family since day one. Marlins fans, I’m forever grateful for your unconditional love and support. Padres, thanks for believing in me; I’m so ready for this new challenge!”
It’s interesting that the Padres made the move for Arraez when they have Xander Bogaerts at second base already. However, Arraez is versatile and can also play first base. But the most likely move is that he’ll slot in as San Diego’s DH (as he did in his four-hit night on Saturday) and focus strictly on his bat. Even though Bogaerts is struggling immensely to find himself offensively, he is a solid defender and he’ll eventually come around at the plate.
Arraez is one of the best hitters in Major League Baseball. He doesn’t have a lot of power at the plate, but the new Padres leadoff hitter is an absolute hit machine. Arraez batted .354 in 2023 with the Marlins despite only hitting 10 home runs. This year, he’s batting .315. Despite having just nine extra-base hits, Arraez is a tough out every time he steps up to the plate.
Arraez even finished eighth in National League MVP voting last year after setting career highs in average, hits (203), home runs (10) and RBIs (69). He also hit for his first career cycle on April 11 last year at Philadelphia.
Since making his major league debut in 2019, Arraez leads major league players with a .324 average.
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