It's no secret that San Diego Padres infielder Luis Arraez is one of the best contact hitters that baseball has ever seen. Arraez has even drawn comparisons to some of the all-time greats, like Tony Gwynn and Rod Carew. However, Arraez's latest mind-blowing feat at the plate may just be his most impressive yet.
Arraez, who the Padres acquired earlier in the season in a trade with the Miami Marlins, has not swung and missed at a pitch in his last 22 plate appearances and has not struck out in his last 48 plate appearances, dating back to July 13 according to the Inside Edge Twitter account.
That's an absolutely ridiculous statistic, even for a player like Arraez who has such elite bat-to-ball skills.
So far this season between his time with the Marlins and the Padres, Arraez is leading the National League with 135 hits. He also has a .308 batting average and has only struck out 24 times through 103 games. Arraez isn't hitting for a lot of power or drawing many walks, making him appear to not be as valuable according to some advanced metrics. But, his ability to consistently put the ball in play is unrivaled and makes him one of the most important players on the Padres roster.
Luis Arraez and Padres pushing for postseason berth
After one of the most active trade deadlines in baseball, the Padres are looking like one of the favorites to make it out of the hyper-competitive National League postseason race. Led by their new-look bullpen featuring Tanner Scott and Jason Adam, the Padres currently hold the second NL Wild Card spot and have fought their way to just 4.5 games back of the Los Angeles Dodgers in the NL West.
The Padres mortgaged a significant portion of their future in order to make the necessary trades to build the roster as it currently stands. The pressure is on for Arraez and the Padres to not only make the postseason but make a deep run once they get there. Arraez made the postseason last year with the Marlins and earlier in his career in 2019 and 2020 with the Minnesota Twins.
Things have been looking good for the Padres so far. With their new trade deadline acquisitions in the fold, the question will be whether or not they keep it up and secure a coveted NL Wild Card spot or even push the Dodgers in the NL West.
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