Padres News: Luis Arraez Ties Tony Gwynn As Amazing Streak Ends

Eva Geitheim | Sep 17, 2024

Orlando Ramirez-Imagn Images

San Diego Padres infielder Luis Arraez saw his incredible streak come to an end on Monday. For the first time since Aug. 10, Arraez stuck out. He had previously made 141 plate appearances without striking out until Monday.

Houston Astros pitcher Spencer Arrighetti managed to seal the first strikeout of Arraez in over a month.

“The strikeout? It’s painful,” Arraez said, via AJ Cassavell of MLB.com. “But [Arrighetti] was nasty. I fought with him. He’s got good stuff.”

Arraez's 141 plate appearances without striking out was tied for the fifth-longest over the last 40 MLB seasons. Arraez tied Padres legend Tony Gwynn for the fifth-longest streak during this span, per Sarah Langs.

longest streaks of consecutive PA without striking out, last 40 seasons:

1995 Tony Gwynn: 170
1987 Ken Oberkfell: 157
2004 Juan Pierre: 147
2001 Juan Pierre: 143
2024 Luis Arraez: 141
1995-96 Tony Gwynn: 141

h/t @EliasSports https://t.co/6pZ9UIv9UB

— Sarah Langs (@SlangsOnSports) September 17, 2024

Gwynn also holds the longest streak for the most plate appearances without striking out over the last 40 years, after making 170 appearances at the plate in 1995 without striking out.

Gwynn, a 15-time All-Star, eight-time National League batting champion. and Baseball Hall of Famer, was simply dominant in 1995. He had the long streak of 170 plate appearances without a strikeout, and at the end of the season began the fifth-longest streak that went on into the 1996 season.

Through 676 career games:#Padres Tony Gwynn - .329/.383/.434
397 R, 853 H, 183 XBH, 254 RBI, & 140 K
1 Batting Title | 27 years and 40 days old#Padres Luis Arráez - .323/.373/.418
368 R, 839 H, 175 XBH, 244 RBI, & 191 K
2 Batting Titles | 27 years and 159 days old

— Ryan M. Spaeder (@theaceofspaeder) September 16, 2024

Along with Arraez and Gwynn, Ken Oberkfell and Juan Pierre landed on the list. Oberkfell recorded the second-longest streak of 157 plate appearances without a strikeout. Pierre put up the third and fourth-longest streaks, going 143 plate appearances without a strikeout in 2001 and then 147 plate appearances without a strikeout in 2004.

While Arraez's streak has come to end, it goes to show how consistent of a hitter the 27-year-old has been over the course of his career. Arraez is one of the best at making contact with the baseball, which is why he is a two-time batting champion, two-time Silver Slugger, and three-time All-Star.

Arraez rebounded after the strikeout with two hits before coming out of the game when he seemed to injure his knee.

Luis Arraez jammed his right knee sliding into home plate. Just inflammation, he says. He thinks he'll be ready to go tomorrow, but needs to wait and see. Asked how he was feeling postgame Arraez smiled and said: "Mad. I struck out."

— AJ Cassavell (@AJCassavell) September 17, 2024

Arraez is in the midst of another dominant streak. He has recorded at least one hit in every game since the month of September began, with multiple hits in nine of those games and in each of his last four games.

He is hitting .448 in September, and ranks second in MLB in batting average, and first in the NL. He is on track to lead the NL in batting average.