Every MLB season, a player hits around .400 over the first few weeks and people start comparing him to Boston Red Sox legend Ted Williams. Then, after two-three weeks, the player's batting average drops. The odds of anyone hitting .400 once again are slim, but Miami Marlins star Luis Arraez is trying to defy the odds.
Arraez was acquired by Miami during the offseason in a trade for SP Pablo Lopez. The talented infielder has always been known for his contact-first approach at the plate. Through the first two months of the 2023 MLB season, Arraez has impressed with the Marlins to say the least. In fact, Arraez, who's currently hitting .392, is tied for the third highest average through 60 games since the year 2000, per MLB on Twitter. Only Joe Mauer (.415) and Chipper Jones (.409) have sported higher batting averages than Arraez during that same time span, while Todd Helton also hit .392 through 60 games.
None of those players were able to hit .400 when their respective seasons came to an end though. So can Luis Arraez become the first player since Ted Williams to hit .400?
Can Luis Arraez hit .400 in 2023?
The best players in MLB get a hit three out of ten times. Hitting .300 is incredibly impressive. Even posting a .260 batting average is respectable. So the thought of hitting .400 seems unrealistic in today's game. Pitchers are throwing harder than ever before with nearly impossible-to-hit breaking pitches.
With all of that being said, Luis Arraez can hit .400.
If Arraez owned a high batting average but failed to get on-base at a consistent rate, then this would be a very different opinion. In addition to leading the league in batting average, Arraez is also leading in OBP with a mark of .445, per Baseball Reference. This is important because it means Arraez doesn't get himself out. He makes every at-bat count and is willing to draw walks if necessary.
Arraez's plate discipline forces pitchers to either walk him or give him pitches to hit in the strike zone. And for a player who leads the league in hits as well, he tends to take care of business when pitches are left over the plate.
But there's even more reason to believe Luis Arraez could make history in 2023.
Arraez currently owns the lowest strikeout rate of his career, sporting a mark of 4.9 percent. He's still hitting a number of ground balls, but he can feel more confident when pulling the baseball with the shift now out of commission. MLB wanted to increase the number of balls in play and Luis Arraez has certainly done that.
It will be difficult, and still probably won't happen, but Luis Arraez at least has a chance to realistically hit .400.
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