(Photo by Matthew Stockman/Getty Images)
The Miami Marlins have been one of the biggest surprises of this MLB season.
Not many people thought they could compete in the NL East let alone have one of the best records in the league.
But, through 73 games the Marlins are 42-31 and have the third-best record in the National League.
One reason for their success is that they have the best hitter in baseball.
The Marlins acquired Luis Arraez in a trade with the Minnesota Twins before the season.
Now he wants to make MLB history just 74 games into his Marlins career.
According to ESPN Stats & Info, Arraez has a chance to be batting .400 through 74 games for only the second time in MLB since 2000.
If Luis Arraez is hitting .400 after tonight’s game against Toronto, that will be through Miami’s 74th game this season – the 2nd-longest into a season a player has hit .400 since 2000.
He trails only Nomar Garciaparra, who did so through 91 team games for the 2000 Red Sox. pic.twitter.com/83T3dOTxeu
— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) June 20, 2023
The only other time this happened was with Nomar Garciaparra, who did it through 91 games in 2000.
But that year Garciaparra was unable to hit .400 for the full season.
The last time we saw someone hit .400 was Ted Williams back in 1941.
Now Arraez has a chance to be in the same category as the legend.
Arrarez has drawn comparisons to legendary hitter Tony Gwynn for his bat-to-ball ability.
He rarely strikes out and can hit the ball to all fields.
It is rare to see a player focus on hitting for contact in today’s MLB.
Everyone is looking for launch angle and driving the ball out of the park.
But, Arraez sticks to what he does best.
Even though Arraez does not hit the ball very hard he places it where the defenders are not.
The Marlins would not be as good as they are without the contributions of Arraez.
All eyes will be on him as he chases the .400-average season.
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