Padres' Luis Arráez likely to make one-of-a-kind MLB history at season's end

The San Diego Padres pulled off one the bigger surprise trades earlier this season when they landed Luis Arráez. The Miami Marlins had already lost their ace (Sandy Alcantara) for the season and the Fish decided to get an early start on their rebuild.

Arráez was dealt to San Diego and the two-time batting champion has been welcomed in by the Friar faithful. Though Arráez recently lost his strikeout-less streak, there's another accolade that will soon be coming his way.

Unsurprisingly, Arráez is in line to win the National League batting for a second year in a row. It will be the third time in three seasons that Arráez has taken home the award, with the 2022 trophy coming by way of the American League. According to Bob Nightengale of USA Today, if Arráez wins the NL batting title this season, it'll mark the first time a player has done so with three different teams.

Padres infielder Luis Arráez set to make MLB history in a very peculiar way

Baseball doesn't value hits and batting average the way it did 30 or 40 years ago. The emphasis on being a contact hitter, putting the ball in play, and not striking out have been replaced by moon shots, exit velo, and three true outcomes.

But Arráez is living proof that a player can still find success with an old-school approach. But is it actually old-school? Or is it just different?

The six-year major league veteran led the AL in hitting back in 2022 with a .316 batting average while playing for the Minnesota Twins. Last season with the Marlins, Arráez hit .354 and finished top-10 in the NL MVP race.

This season, Arráez holds a comfortable cushion over his nearest competitor (Marcell Ozuna) with less than two weeks to go. As for the outright batting title, which isn't a threat to the actual award, Arráez actually has competition from both Bobby Witt Jr. and Aaron Judge. But just like the MVP and Cy Young awards, the batting title is divided among the two leagues.

So once the 2024 regular season comes to a close, Arráez will likely stand alone as the first player ever to win a batting title three straight years and with three different organizations. Come 2025, maybe he can do it with the same organization for the first time in his career, too.

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