Inside The Padres

Padres Announce When Luis Arraez Will Make San Diego Debut

The newest star will be taking center stage shortly.

Maren Angus-Coombs

Darren Yamashita-USA TODAY Sports
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The San Diego Padres welcomed their newest acquisition town with a golden opportunity as No. 4 Luis Arraez will make his debut for his new team on Saturday.

Arraez will hit leadoff as the team's designated hitter against the Arizona Diamondbacks.

According to Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune, Arraez had not arrived at Chase Field when the lineup was posted but he was en route.

The two-time Silver Slugger led the American League in batting in 2022 with a .316 average with the Minnesota Twins before he was traded to the Miami Marlins in 2023 where he won another batting title with a .354 average.

Arraez begins his season with the Padres slashing .299/.347/.372 through 33 games. He has appeared at second base in all 33 games this season and has appeared at first base in eight of them. He is expected to be San Diego's designated hitter with opportunities to play defense to give other infielders a day off from the field.

The beginning of May is a little early for a team to start selling its top players but the Marlins are off to an awful 9-24 start and resident of baseball operations Peter Bendix doesn't expect his squad to make the playoffs.

San Diego is in second place in the NL West, 4.5 games behind the Los Angeles Dodgers, and hope Arraez is the missing piece to the puzzle they have been piecing together.

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Maren Angus-Coombs
MAREN ANGUS-COOMBS

Maren Angus-Coombs was born in Los Angeles and raised in Nashville, Tenn. She is a graduate of Middle Tennessee State University and has been a sports writer since 2008. Despite being raised in the South, her sports obsession has always been in Los Angeles. She is currently a staff writer for the LA Sports Report Network.