Luis Arraez emerges from early-season slump for first-place Padres

The three-time defending batting champion somehow found himself towards the bottom of a list to begin the season. Just a few days ago, San Diego Padres infielder Luis Arraez was one of the worst qualified position players in Major League Baseball, logging a WAR in the negatives.

His defensive metrics are by no means superb, but his recent tirade at the plate is digging him out of the conversation of the worst overall player. Entering Saturday, Arraez has brought his batting average up to .294, which is a sign of great things to come alongside his already-hot teammates.

Padres' Luis Arraez is turning things around on offense

Entering Saturday's game against the Houston Astros, Arraez is riding a six-game hitting streak, which includes 10 hits overall and three for extra bases.

The 28-year-old began the season batting 1-for-18, so if his offensive numbers are plummeting, his overall numbers will follow - considering how below-average he is on defense. Since then, however, Arraez is a .358 hitter, which can calm the Friar fans' nerves that he was losing his mojo. He still has it, folks.

Arraez has been one of the most consistent hitters in the game these last several seasons, so it proves that everyone is capable of a brief slump. Luckily for San Diego, the rest of the team picked up the slack, and the Padres are ranked No. 1 in MLB despite the batting champ's struggles.

For the Padres, Arraez will be batting second in the lineup on Saturday against the Astros, which is one of the safest spots in the order in all of baseball. He is sandwiched between Fernando Tatis Jr. and Manny Machado, who are each mashing through the first month of the season. It's almost a guarantee that pitchers will throw to Arraez, and he is starting to take advantage of that.