‘He’s setting the tone’: If Marlins want to keep playoff push alive, Luis Arraez will be key
Just about all season, Miami Marlins All-Star second baseman Luis Arraez has dazzled the baseball world with his hitting prowess. The conversation about him possibly being the first player to finish a season with a .400 batting average since Ted Williams in 1941 held steam all the way through the All-Star Break.
That talk has cooled down as the season wore on. A bad August for Arraez individually and, in turn, the Marlins overall all but ended that chance for Arraez to elite company and temporarily put Miami’s playoff hopes in jeopardy.
Arraez couldn’t care less about the former. He’s not focusing on the individual accolades, although he’s still leading the National League in batting average. His priority has always been on the team’s success, doing his part to get the Marlins to the playoffs for the first time in a full season since 2003.
However, his individual success and the Marlins’ success as a whole have gone hand in hand all season and a strong September from Arraez could be the deciding factor in the Marlins’ quest for a playoff berth.
“He’s setting the tone,” Marlins manager Skip Schumaker said. “That’s what he does for our offense.”
There’s certainly a correlation.
Entering Sunday, with Miami just one-and-a-half games behind the Arizona Diamondbacks for the National League’s third and final wild card spot, the Marlins are 11-7 this season in the 18 games when Arraez records at least three hits and 29-21 when he has a multi-hit outing. His 50 multi-hit games are third in MLB behind only the Atlanta Braves’ Ronald Acuna Jr. (61) and Los Angeles Dodgers’ Freddie Freeman (55).
In the 56 games that he has started and recorded just one hit? Miami is still above .500, at 29-27.
However, in 25 starts when Arraez has gone without a hit, Miami is 10-15.
Arraez in particular struggled in August, a month in which the Marlins went 10-17 against primarily playoff contenders. Arraez hit just .236 over the 27 games and had only four multi-hit outings. His season batting average dropped 32 points from .381 to .349.
“I felt a little tired,” said Arraez, whose .349 batting average is 13 points ahead of the Dodgers’ Freeman in the National League. “I’m human, but I’m glad I’m healthy and I just can continue to play and enjoy the game. ... I put a lot of pressure in my mind, but I just have to play.”
Despite playing through the grind, Arraez hasn’t let the fatigue show externally. The 26-year-old has remained the ever-upbeat player every day, greeting his teammates with hugs and loud conversations in the dugout and being one of the steady stream of players going to the field for pregame groundballs and batting practice on a daily basis.
“He has the most energy inside that clubhouse before the game. It gets everybody going,” Schumaker said. “I can’t give him enough credit for what he does. He’s out there early taking ground balls, playing every day, having the most at-bats he’s ever had, the most hits he’s ever had. And he’s still working like it’s the first day of spring training.”
He has also been willing to adjust his role if it puts the team in a better position to win. With Jorge Soler on the injured list due to a right oblique strain, the Marlins’ designated hitter spot has opened up. Schumaker has mainly used first baseman Josh Bell in that spot as a result. On days when Bell isn’t in the field, Arraez has volunteered to move from second base to first base to help cover the void.
“He’s a winning player. He wants to win,” Schumaker said. “So when you ask him anything about where he wants to hit in the lineup or where he wants to play in the field, the answer is always ‘Whatever you think is going to help us win.’ When you have that type of player, an All-Star that doesn’t care about status or where he’s going to be playing or what position he’s going to play, that’s the culture you’re trying to create. And it feels like, when you see that happen, stuff is working around here. He’s kind of the leader of the pack when it comes down to that, and we’re just wanting to win.”
And the Marlins have been winning. Since Aug. 31, they have victories in seven of their past eight games entering Saturday. They have at least a .500 record against every National League team outside of the Atlanta Braves still in contention for the playoffs.
They have three more weeks to keep doing that to get to their ultimate goal.
“We just play together,” Arraez said. “We just go out there and enjoy it. We need to keep winning to do that.”
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