San Diego Padres' Luis Arraez Continues to Extend Historic Streak of Not Striking Out

Luis Arraez has now gone 135 consecutive plate appearances without recording a single strikeout, placing the San Diego Padres All-Star only behind Juan Pierre since 2000.

Sep 14, 2024; San Francisco, California, USA; San Diego Padres infielder Luis Arraez (4) hits an RBI single against the San Francisco Giants during the sixth inning at Oracle Park. / Robert Edwards-Imagn Images

The San Diego Padres didn't need much out of Luis Arraez to cruise to a win over the San Francisco Giants on Saturday, but he still came through with another historic performance at the plate.

While Arraez started the contest 0-for-3, San Diego led 2-0. Arraez finally got on board with an RBI single in the sixth to extend his team's lead, then he came around to score himself later in the frame.

The 27-year-old designated hitter opened the eighth with a ground-rule double and another run, all before he flied out to center in the ninth. The Padres went on to win 8-0, with Arraez finishing the evening 2-for-6 with two runs and an RBI.

Arraez, as has been his unbreakable habit lately, did not strike out Saturday. He has now gone 29 games and 135 plate appearances in a row without recording a strikeout, going down by way of the K just twice since the All-Star break.

According to MLB.com's Sarah Langs, Arraez's streak now stands alone as the third-longest in MLB since 2000.

Juan Pierre boasts the two longest streaks of the 21st century, going 147 plate appearances between strikeouts in 2004 and 143 plate appearances between strikeouts in 2001. Arraez entered Saturday tied for third on the leaderboard with Mookie Betts, who had a 129-plate appearance strikeout-less streak that stretched between the 2016 and 2017 seasons.

longest streaks of consecutive PA without striking out, since
2000:

2004 Juan Pierre: 147
2001 Juan Pierre: 143
2024 Luis Arraez: 135 *active
2016-17 Mookie Betts: 129

h/t @EliasSports https://t.co/H0ywNPJEqc

— Sarah Langs (@SlangsOnSports) September 15, 2024

Per Langs, Dave Cash still owns the expansion era record at 223, followed by Nellie Fox at 185 and Bill Buckner at 184. The longest streak of the Wild Card era belongs to Padres legend Tony Gwynn, who went 170 plate appearances between strikeouts in 1995.

Arraez is batting .320 with 190 hits, four home runs, 43 RBI, nine stolen bases, a .745 OPS and 1.2 WAR so far this season. He made his third consecutive All-Star appearance earlier this summer, and he leads the National League in both hits and batting average.

Should he hold strong and win the batting title, it would mark three in a row for Arraez, who has played for three different teams in the span. The Minnesota Twins traded Arraez to the Miami Marlins right after he won the 2022 AL batting title, and he got flipped from the Marlins to the Padres in May fresh off winning the 2023 NL batting title.

For his career, Arraez is a .324 hitter with a .792 OPS and 16.2 WAR. He has 195 walks compared to 191 strikeouts since making his MLB debut in 2019, all in an era in which some players strike out 200 times a year.

Arraez and the Padres will close out their road series with the Giants on Sunday, with first pitch scheduled for 4:05 p.m. ET. From there, they will return home to host the Houston Astros and Chicago White Sox.

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