Luis Arraez didn’t waste any time making his presence known to the Padres.
The newest addition to the team – on Saturday, the Friars completed a deal with Miami for the two-time batting champion, sending reliever Woo-Suk Go and prospects to the Marlins – doubled on the second pitch he saw as a Padre.
He scored on a single by Manny Machado, then the DH, leading off, proceeded to go 4-for-6 in a 13-1 rout of the Diamondbacks.
Arraez played a part in three of the Padre rallies, including the big one, in the seventh inning, in which the club put eight runs on the board, thanks to a double and two homers.
With the Padres up 3-0, Arraez and Fernando Tatis Jr. singled to start the onslaught. Machado doubled them in, then scored on a home run by Jurickson Profar, his fifth of the year.
Jackson Merrill then drove in Xander Bogaerts, who had doubled, and Luis Campusano walked, as Ha-Seong Kim came up with one out. He got the job done, driving a ball to deep left center, for a three-run homer and an 11-0 lead.
Small consolation for Arizona – they finally sat Arraez down in the seventh. He lined out in his second at-bat of the inning, in which the Padres sent 11 men to the plate.
His bonafides are clear. As word spread in the clubhouse Friday of the impending trade, Tatis called Arraez “a baller” and made what is a sacred comparison to Friar fans. mentioning his new teammate in the same breath as Mr. Padre, the late Tony Gwynn.
Arraez won his first batting title with the Twins in 2022 while hitting .316. Last year, he topped himself, hitting .354, best in the Major Leagues.
Mike Shidlt now has all that talent on his side. The manager called Arraez’s performance, in which he boosted his average to .315, “a sight to behold” that “got us going, kept us going” in the win.
Padres executive A.J. Preller said the team had considered waiting until the trade deadline to make a big addition. High on the list, with the loss of Juan Soto – another lefty in the lineup.
“I think ultimately we talked about, we could wait, or we could go out and try to get one of the better left-handed bats that we thought would probably be available and do it now and go get Luis Arraez for 140 games versus going and getting someone else for 60 games,” he said.
The Padres also gave up minor leaguers Jakob Marsee and Nathan Martorella, both in Double A, and Dillon Head, in Single A, for Arraez.
The Padres send Matt Waldon to the mound Sunday, then depart for Chicago to finish the road trip.