(Photo by Eric Espada/Getty Images)
On Monday, the usually offensively-challenged Miami Marlins torched the Toronto Blue Jays for 11 runs and won the game.
It was the Marlins’ fifth victory in a row, which helped cement their place as the second-best team in the NL East right now with a 42-31 record.
During the game, Marlins infielder Luis Arraez made history.
Luis Arraez becomes the first player since Dave Winfield in 1984 to have three 5-hit games in the same month! pic.twitter.com/MoCS9SWBQn
— MLB (@MLB) June 20, 2023
He went 5-for-5 with two RBI against the Jays.
Perhaps more importantly, he returned to a .400 batting average.
He is now hitting .400/.450/.490 in 67 games and 282 plate appearances.
With just two home runs, he has become an offensive unicorn, a hitting machine that doesn’t need power to succeed.
The .400 batting average threshold is a historically relevant figure in baseball.
It is seen as a myth these days: no one hits .400 anymore, and no one has done it since Ted Williams in 1941.
Can Arraez defy history?
Can he beat the odds and do the impossible?
People have reacted to his big game and the fact he is back to hitting .400.
Idc what anyone says he has to be in mvp talks
— derek (@NYderek_22) June 20, 2023
If he keeps this up he’ll pass Ichiro’s base hit record in no time
— Primo (@YaBoyJuly) June 20, 2023
Dude is unreal
— derek (@NYderek_22) June 20, 2023
bro is playing MLB the show
— sadness in my veins march-october (@ceek_yt) June 20, 2023
Yes, indeed: Arraez is posting video-game-like numbers when you play season mode and set the opposition to easy.
The league hasn’t seen such a skilled hitter for batting average probably since prime Ichiro Suzuki.
Arraez hitting .400 to this point, when most pitchers sit in the high-90s and throw nasty breaking balls and changeups, is nothing short of impressive.
Nobody knows if he will stay over the .400 threshold when all is said and done, but he has definitely built a rock-solid MVP case to rival his countryman Ronald Acuna Jr.
The post MLB World Reacts To Luis Arraez’s Latest Feat appeared first on The Cold Wire.