Luis Arraez is taking the league by storm. The Miami Marlins first baseman has a real chance to be MLB’s first .400 hitter in the modern era.
Through Tuesday’s action, Arraez was hitting .398 (103 for 259) with a .934 OPS. While batting close to .400 is new for Arraez, consistently making contact and getting on base isn’t. He has a career batting average of .327 in his fifth major-league season.
Red Sox hitting coach Peter Fatse worked with Arraez during his time with the Twins. Fatse detailed what makes Arraez so special on the Audacy Original Podcast “Baseball Isn’t Boring” this week.
“Bat-to-ball skill. He can move the ball around,” Fatse said (4:36 in player above). “A guy with that much ability to make contact, for me, was definitely the skill that set him apart.”
Arraez has a special combination of skills that makes him one of the best hitters in the game today.
“The hand-eye is one thing but his strike zone discipline, his ability to see the baseball was outstanding from the first moment I met him. I think that skill translates really well to the upper levels and the big leagues,” Fatse said.
“If you have the ability to see pitches and you can tell spin and you can lay off tough pitches – he clearly takes a lot of pride in that with the way he shakes pitches off when he thinks they’re a ball. He’s very obsessed with the strike zone. For me, anytime you see that with the ability to make contact, it’s a skill that is going to translate well to the upper levels.”
Fatse first saw Arraez in 2019 as the Twins' minor league hitting coordinator. The infielder had some early struggles that year.
“The funny thing is I remember my first visit into Pensacola must’ve been the first month of the season and he wasn’t hitting all that well,” Fatse said. “He was putting balls in play weakly and getting out.”
But Arraez stuck with his same approach and it’s paid off for the league’s leading hitter.
“He stuck with his process. He stuck with his strength,” Fatse continued. It’s like I’m not going to sell out to try to hit an extra homer every 10 weeks. I’m going to try to move the ball around the field. I’m going to find holes. I’m going to stay on pitches. I’m going to win pitches.
“He took that mindset and has carried it with him to his big-league career and he got to the big leagues that same year. So to see where he started that year and where he finished, that was really cool to be a part of that to see that process.”
Arraez is in his 10th professional season at just 26 years old. He’s going to be someone that’s fun to watch chase batting titles for years to come.
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