His batting statistics tell the truth of his worth to the San Diego Padres lineup. Luis Arraez is among the last of his kind on MLB rosters—a contact hitter.
To be sure, there are everyday players enjoying exceptional offensive numbers this season. Bobby Witt Jr. in Kansas City has 208 hits, 32 home runs, and an American League-leading batting average of .335. And Aaron Judge has produced a monster season for the New York Yankees.
Judge, the 2022 American League MVP—in all likelihood capturing that award again this season—has clubbed 56 round-trippers, 177 hits, 139 RBIs, and with an average of .323, he is the only one who could keep Witt from claiming the league’s Triple Crown.
In the National League, Arraez works his bat with the same success as a magician and his wand. As the 27-year-old Venezuelan infielder quietly goes about moving his teammates around the bases, the Los Angeles Dodgers’ Shohei Ohtani seemingly rewrites chapters in MLB record books on a game-by-game basis. Although Arraez’s slapping balls through the infield isn’t headline material, hitting the cowhide where the holes are on the field continues to be productive in leading the Padres to a Wild Card spot come October.
But, for however solid Arraez proves to be—game in and game out—his wizardry with a bat seems less important in a game that once had higher standards for its hitters. Earlier this season, Arraez had 141 plate appearances without a strikeout. If Arraez, come the season’s end this Sunday, wins his third consecutive batting crown, he will become the only player in modern history to do so with three different teams.
Indeed, with Arraez such a threat in the batter’s box, you have to wonder why other MLB clubs aren’t putting an emphasis on playing “small ball,” relying on base hits, walks, bunts, and smashing doubles to move runners forward. Could it be that they are wondering too much if bat speed can counter pitching velocity?
A hitting coach keeping those in the lineup who are at their best when swinging for the fences, along with the base-by-base manufacturers, is what’s key to a well-balanced and exciting lineup.
Dave Magadan, a veteran of 16 MLB seasons with seven clubs, including the 1986 World Champion New York Mets, and a hitting coach for another dozen years on the MLB level, offers a clear understanding of the shift from hitting for average to sacrificing production for the occasional long ball.
“The shift was gradual, for when guys started getting paid to hit home runs. It’s more of a grind when batters are trying to hit for average and not so much for guys just trying to hit home runs. The ”grinders“ do the little things that help you win,” Magadan told The Epoch Times by phone earlier this week.
Last in the MLB ranks as a hitting coach with the Colorado Rockies in 2022, Magadan seems to have a firm grip on the “dumbing down” of productive, contact hitters. However, the number of hitters at .200 or below in lineups regularly, at times, has Magadan at a loss for words. He’s not alone. A sampling this season of players, where the overall MLB batting average is .243, demonstrates how standards have been lowered—and tolerated by management.
Christopher Morel of the Tampa Bay Rays is hitting .197. Milwaukee Brewers’ top free agent this season Rhys Hoskins is at .213. George Springer, free-agent-to-be at the season’s end with the Houston Astros, is claiming an uncharacteristic .219 average. The biggest eye-popping low-average hitter of 2024 is Texas Rangers’ Adolis Garcia. In 2023, Garcia joined in with teammates to celebrate winning the World Series, being named the ALCS MVP, being selected for the All-Star game, earning a Rawlings Gold Glove, and being paid $4.75 million, according to Baseball Almanac. What are the Rangers getting for their investment? Garcia is hitting .221.
Not every player possesses the tools to be a slugger, even if clubs don’t dissuade them from attempting to be. As Magadan views traits of a well-rounded hitter, doing the little things right consistently is something that shows up every single day in the box score.
“A guy who is going to pop 30 homers, maybe 15 of them are going to be game-changers. That mindset is easier for players to grasp. Whereas Arraez wants to show up every day, have good at-bats, and do whatever it takes for his team to win... organizations are starting to embrace the guy who can hit for average again. But this isn’t happening overnight. I think they [MLB management] have come to the realization that baseball becomes unwatchable. Seeing teams striking out a dozen times a game, to me, isn’t fun to watch,” Magadan explained.
To think, as secure as Arraez is with his bat, he first came to MLB’s attention as a 16-year-old undrafted free agent. Arraez made his MLB debut during the 2019 season with the Minnesota Twins, and in six full seasons in the big leagues, he has over 800 hits in 682 games and hit .300 or better on four occasions. In 2,608 at-bats, only 193 times has Arraez been called out on strikes.
Men on base offer many possibilities for managers and coaches to bring players across the plate.
“The beauty of the game is to manufacture runs, and that could include home runs. I get as much pleasure out of a player like Arraez and Witt Jr. driving the ball to right center field, then moving a guy over from second to third base with nobody out. The beauty is not waiting around for a player to pop a three-run homer,” said Magadan.
Magadan, a cousin and godson of former MLB skipper Lou Piniella, acknowledges the spectacular season Ohtani is having for the Dodgers. He also believes that the players who are hitting .180 and .190 think they’ve had a good year.
“Guys swing up to hit the ball much to their detriment,” says Magadan, who in 2010 was inducted into the College Baseball Hall of Fame.
