Minnesota Twins infielder Luis Arraez has a unique hitting profile.
He is capable of making contact with pitches at just about every part of the strike zone, and he rarely wastes an at-bat.
This contact-oriented approach is letting him lead MLB in batting average, with .362 before Tuesday’s games.
In 216 plate appearances, he has three home runs and a .362/.444/.436 hitting line.
He has a fine 12.0% walk rate and is striking out at a minuscule 8.3% rate, one of the best marks in the majors.
To sum up, he is one of the toughest at-bats in Major League Baseball.
Chris Archer, Arraez’s teammate on the Twins, provided a pretty good explanation about how to pitch to Arraez.
Spoiler alert: it does not contain any useful advice for pitchers, sadly.
“Chris Archer was asked how he’d pitch to Luis Arráez. He said he’d just throw right down the middle. ‘He’s going to work a tough at-bat every time, so you’re just going to waste six to eight pitches. So you’re better off just letting him do what he’s going to do early,'” Do-Hyoung Park, who covers the Twins for MLB.com, tweeted.
Chris Archer was asked how he'd pitch to Luis Arráez.
He said he'd just throw right down the middle.
"He's going to work a tough at-bat every time, so you're just going to waste six to eight pitches. So you're better off just letting him do what he's going to do early."
— Do-Hyoung Park (@dohyoungpark) June 14, 2022
One Of MLB’s Best Pure Hitters
Arraez has always had this kind of profile, but this year, he has taken things to the next level.
If he keeps getting hits at this rate, he will very easily establish a new personal high and has a very solid shot at his first batting title.
Batting average is losing some luster as a stat with each passing year, but the beauty of someone with Arraez’s profile succeeding goes well beyond a simple stat.
It shows us that there are different approaches than hitting home runs.
Opposing pitchers hate facing hitters like Arraez, and for good reason.
He has morphed into a really, really good hitter and is a valuable part of what the Twins are trying to do this year.
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