Padres' Luis Arraez Can Accomplish Something in 2024 No Player Has Ever Done

Noah Camras | May 14, 2024

May 10, 2024; San Diego, California, USA; San Diego Padres designated hitter Luis Arraez (4) / Orlando Ramirez-USA TODAY Sports

The San Diego Padres made a shocking move when they acquired two-time batting champion Luis Arraez from the Miami Marlins in early May.

Arraez has already made an instant impact on his new club, hitting .306 with three runs batted in across his nine games. He also came up clutch over the weekend against the Los Angeles Dodgers with a walk-off hit.

Live, Love, Luis pic.twitter.com/RWaPzxDVP6

— San Diego Padres (@Padres) May 11, 2024

With Arraez now in San Diego, he's on his third team in three years. Arraez was a member of the Minnesota Twins in 2022, before he was traded ahead of the 2023 season to Miami. Now, after a year and a month in Miami, he's a Padre for at least the next two seasons (he's arbitration-eligible this offseason).

While the Arraez move has already paid off instantly for San Diego, it also puts Arraez in a position to make Major League Baseball history. Arraez has a chance to win a batting title with three different teams, something no player has done in the Modern Era.

Arraez won the American League batting title in 2022 after hitting .316 with the Twins. He then won the National League (and overall) batting title in 2023 after hitting .354.

This year, if Arraez were to win the batting title, it would not only be his third team, but it would be his third team in three years. That would be incredible history.

If Arraez wants to make that history, though, he has some work to do.

Entering Tuesday, Arraez is hitting a combined .301 across the Marlins and Padres, which has him tied for ninth in the National League. The current NL leaders — Milwaukee Brewers catcher William Contreras and Dodgers designated hitter Shohei Ohtani — are hitting .354 on the season.