Marlins Reunite With Former Marlin Luis Arraez in San Diego For Midweek Series Versus Padres
It’s safe to say the early May trade with the San Diego Padres that shipped out second baseman Luis Arraez wasn’t very popular with fans of the Miami Marlins.
It wasn’t very popular with the media, either, with questions being asked of president of baseball operations Peter Bendix about why the Marlins made this trade so early in the season and what the move says to fans about the long-term prospects of the organization.
But despite the move, which felt like the Marlins giving up on the 2024 season just 33 games in, Miami’s gone 10-9 since the trade and is on a streak of winning four straight series after taking two out of three from the defending NL Champion Arizona Diamondbacks in Chase Field over the weekend. Miami’s offense is actually improved since shipping out their leadoff hitter in Arraez, with the runs per game up from 3.6 pre-trade to 3.9 post-trade. It might sound remarkable, but jettisoning the two-time batting title champ has seen the offense actually post a higher batting average, up to .250 from its pre-trade .224.
(This isn’t the fault of Arraez, for the record - despite the slow start, he was still batting .299 in Miami.)
Replacing Arraez has been a group effort in Miami. Leadoff duties have fallen mostly to centerfielder Jazz Chisholm Jr., who has discussed the “different mindset” required to bat at the top of the order and has delivered a .281/.343/.484 slash from the leadoff spot. Dane Myers has taken the other five starts, mostly against lefty starters.
Another beneficiary of the open defensive spot vacated by Arraez is Otto López. Acquired off of waivers in early April, the 25-year-old has started fifteen of the team’s twenty post-Arraez matchups, batting .289 with twelve RBI and five extra-base hits during that span.
The big question for this series will be how Miami gets Arraez out. He’s taken over the leadoff spot for San Diego and is playing second with the shoulder injury to incumbent Xander Bogaerts, putting up a stellar .391 average and .889 OPS in his first twenty games with the Padres. Some of the success may lie with the rotation - Miami’s starting three lefties in the series - in his career, Arraez has bat ‘only’ .281 against southpaws versus .341 against righties.
While every game matters, winning the series in San Diego will be pleasing for more reasons than just a five-series winning streak.
Managing Editor for Blackerby Media, covering the Atlanta Braves and Miami Marlins Also: Senior Baseball Writer for Auburn Daily, member of both the National College Baseball Writers Association and Internet Baseball Writers Association of America (where he won the 2023 Prospects, Minors, & College Writer of the Year award)