Luis Arraez recently struck out for the first time in over a month, an unfathomably long time by today’s standards.
On September 16, 2024, 1B/2B Luis Arraez struck out for the first time since August 10. This marked the first time he struck out in his last 141 plate appearances. Since the All-Star break, Arraez has only punched out four times. In total, he has only gone down on strikes 28 times in 641 plate appearances this season. This isn’t anything new to the three-time All-Star, as he’s never struck out more than 50 times in a season, all while being a career .324 hitter. But going more than 30 days without a strikeout is almost unheard of. This shows that Luis Arraez is about as tough of an at-bat as it gets, and his first strikeout in over a month was no different.
The At-Bat
SP Spencer Arrighetti was on the mound for the Houston Astros facing Luis Arraez. Arraez was up-to-bat in the second inning for his second at-bat. Arrighetti won the first at-bat, as Luis was 0-1 on the day with a groundout. The first pitch was a curveball up and away for ball one, followed by a fastball outside again, taken for ball two. With the count at 2-0, Arrighetti threw a cutter at the letters, which looked up and out of the zone, but ultimately gets called for strike one. The fourth pitch of the AB is a fastball on the outer part of the zone, which got a rare swing-and-miss from Arraez. Now a 2-2 count, the next pitch was fouled off, then followed up with a spiked cutter in the dirt that the batter spit on, running the count full to 3-2.
The next two payoff pitches were fouled back, both being a cutter and fastball away. Now, the 9th pitch was a curveball in the dirt which got Arraez to chase, finally setting him down on strikes, ending his historic streak. This strikeout certainly wouldn’t cool the two-time Silver Slugger down, as he recorded two more hits later in the game to help the Padres win.
Comments after the Game
Following his streak ending, Arraez told AJ Cassavell of MLB.com, “I strike out, and I said: ‘I’ve got two more at-bats.’ Let’s see what happens.” Even though it seems Luis didn’t care that much about his streak, he later admitted: “The strikeout? It’s painful. But he was nasty. I fought with him. He’s got good stuff.”
Houston Astros starter Spencer Arrighetti had respect for Luis Arraez as well, saying, “I respect that guy a lot, and what he does is absolutely crazy in the game that we play today. It meant a lot to me, for sure. Hats off to him, too. He got me on the same pitch. It’s not like I can just walk away feeling great. It wasn’t an 0-for-3. He still got me.”
The last comment came from San Diego Padres Manager Mike Shildt, who said, “It’s been a privilege to be a part of it, to watch this guy perform. He’s a magician with the bat in his hand. He’s got this wonderful combination of bat-to-ball skill, and he’s got this tremendous approach.”
Tony Gwynn Comparisons
We don’t see very many pure contact hitters in MLB anymore, with only seven hitters hitting over .300. Six of the seven hitters have hit 28+ home runs, with Arraez being the only one who hasn’t, only having four. LF Tony Gwynn is one of the best contact hitters in baseball history, only hitting under .300 once in his 20-year career. The one time being his rookie year where he hit .289 in 54 games.
We might be seeing the closest thing to him in Arraez, who also wears the same Padres jersey Gwynn did for 20 years. The comparisons between the two have only become more interesting with Luis Arraez’s historic streak ending right behind Tony Gwynn’s. Gwynn went 170 plate appearances without striking out in 1995, the most in San Diego Padres franchise history. Arraez’s streak is only tied for second with Gwynn at 141, which Tony did in 1996.
It wouldn’t be crazy to think we may never see anyone have a streak like Luis Arraez had again. The next person with the least number of strikeouts is LF Steven Kwan, who’s struck out 50 times in 275 less at-bats. Arraez has helped the Padres to 2nd in the NL West, almost guaranteeing they will get to the playoffs. What he is able to do is rare, but he’s been able to consistently put up the best contact numbers in the league every year. It will be interesting to see if he will be able to carry this play into the playoffs and help San Diego make a deep run.
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