Marlins’ Luis Arraez saw two pitches at All-Star Game. Naturally, he got two hits
As Miami Marlins second baseman Luis Arraez stepped into the batter’s box in the second inning of the 2023 MLB All-Star Game, a mic’d up Nathan Eovaldi was asked how he would attack one of baseball’s top pure hitters.
Like just about every other pitcher who has faced Arraez this year, he didn’t have an answer.
And in this instance, Eovaldi didn’t have much time to put together a game plan.
Arraez swung at the first pitch Evoladi offered, an elevated splitter at the top of the strike zone, and lined the pitch to shallow center field.
One pitch, one hit.
Two innings later, it was more of the same. Elevated first-pitch fastball. Swing. Base hit.
“I saw only two pitches,” Arraez told Fox’s Tom Verducci, “because I want to hit the ball already. ... I just came here to enjoy the game.”
And did he enjoy it.
Arraez, looking to possibly become the first MLB player since Ted Williams in 1941 to finish a season with a .400 batting average, put his prolific bat-to-ball skills on full display Tuesday as the National League beat the American League 3-2 at Seattle’s T-Mobile Park.
He became just the fourth Marlins player with multiple hits in an All-Star Game, joining Hanley Ramirez (2008), Mike Lowell (2002) and Gary Sheffield (1993). His second hit of the game, this one against the Mariners’ George Kirby, drove in J.D. Martinez, who led off the fourth inning with a double.
And his production at the All-Star Game was no different than what he has been doing all season — and why he was named as the National League’s starting second baseman in the first place.
Arraez entered the All-Star Break with an MLB-leading .383 batting average. The player with the second-highest average among qualified hitters? The Atlanta Braves’ Ronald Acuna Jr., at .331 — 52 points below Arraez.
And Arraez has his share of big-name supporters around the league.
Like Dusty Baker, the Houston Astros’ manager who oversaw the American League team.
“He’s probably close to being one of my favorite hitters to watch,” Baker told reporters in Seattle. “I told my son to watch him. He’s full of energy. He is like the Energizer Bunny. He moves every muscle every time he moves. So he’s fun to watch and he’s fun to watch hit. And I’m pulling for him.”
And Rob Thomson, the Philadelphia Phillies’ manager who oversaw the National League team. Thomson has seen Arraez six times this season. The second baseman has hit .429 (9 for 21) against Philadelphia, including recording the first cycle in Marlins history in an April 11 matchup with the Phillies at Citizens Bank Park.
“We just got done playing him and we wouldn’t get him out,” Thomson said. “He is really an incredible hitter. He knows the strike zone, he’s got a short stroke, he uses the entire field. He’s not a plus-plus runner, so to have the average that he does right now, he doesn’t strike out, it’s really incredible. He is an exceptional hitter.”
And Los Angeles Angels two-way superstar Shohei Ohtani, who shared an embrace with Arraez while on the basepaths in the fourth inning on Tuesday.
“Every time I watch him on TV, he gets a base hit,” Ohtani said. “Very, very impressive.”
▪ Jorge Soler had one at-bat in his first All-Star Game appearance, reaching base on a Vladimir Guerrero Jr. fielding error in the sixth inning. He moved to third base on an Austin Riley single but was stranded there.
This story was originally published July 11, 2023 at 10:30 PM.
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