With his .400 batting average where does the Miami Marlins’s Luis Arraez rank in MLB history?
It’s not often you see .400 batting average in MLB, not often at all. Yet, that’s exactly what the Marlins’ second baseman is doing as he continues to make history.
There is a point when one can no longer attribute luck to what a player does on the field, and in the case of Luis Arraez, he’s now made it abundantly clear that this isn’t about fortune but rather a good old-fashioned hit anything that they throw approach.
Luis Arraez is red hot on .400
If you ask anyone right now who’s the man on fire in baseball at the moment, the only response can be the Miami Marlins’ Luis Arraez. Let’s set the scene. On Monday night, the Marlins destroyed the Toronto Blue Jays 11-0 which in itself was worthy of mention but the man whose name we just gave you is really where the focus was. On the night, Arraez went 5 for 5 and raised his season batting average back up .400. To be clear, Arraez is currently sitting on a record of 102 for 255 this season, which is .400 exact.
Now, we said ‘back up’ because the last time he was on .400 was on June 10, a night on which he went 2 for 4 and finished with .402. The 26-year-old saw his average dip to .378 - still excellent - on June 14th, but that slight blip was ended by two consecutive five-hit games which returned him to .400. To be clear, Monday’s performance has now brought his overall batting line for the season to .400/.450/.490. We should tell you that he also went 5 for 5 on June 2nd and 16th and that’s significant. Why? He’s only the fourth player in history to register three five-hit games in the same month. With that, he’s now in the company of Hall of Famers like George Sisler who did so in August 1921, Ty Cobb who did the same in July 1922, and Tony Gwynn who completed the feat in June 1984. In case you didn’t know, the Marlins have 10 games left in June i.e., he could still do more damage.
A look at the .400 club in MLB
At the moment, Arraez’s .400 batting average is tied for the ninth highest across 73 team games since 1941, when Ted Williams hit .406, making him the last player to hit .400 during an entire campaign. If you’d like to see the others, take a look below:
| Rank | Player | First 73 Games | Final Batting Average | Team & Year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Andrés Galarraga | .420 | .370 | Colorado Rockies, 1993 |
| 2 | Larry Walker | .415 | .366 | Colorado Rockies, 1997 |
| 3 | Stan Musial | .411 | .376 | Arizona Cardinals, 1948 |
| 4 | Tony Fernández | .410 | .328 | Toronto Blue Jays, 1999 |
| 5 | Rod Carew | .407 | .388 | Minnesota Twins, 1977 |
| 6 | John Olerud | .405 | .363 | Toronto Blue Jays, 1993 |
| 7 | Tommy Holmes | .404 | .352 | Atlanta Braves (then Boston Braves), 1948 |
| 8 | Rod Carew | .404 | .339 | Los Angeles Angeles (then California Angels), 1983 |
| 9 | Chipper Jones | .400 | .364 | Atlanta Braves, 2008 |
| 10 | Luis Arraez | .400 | NA | Miami Marlins, 2023 |
A bit about Luis Arraez
It’s funny to think that there was some degree of uncertainty surrounding Arraez when he arrived in Miami last year, following a trade that sent Pablo López and two prospects to Minnesota. The Venezuelan came to the Marlins with an American League-leading .316 average and we think it’s safe to say, he’s improved on that. With the Marlins having now clinched their fifth consecutive win and 17th in their last 22 games, they’ve actually got the best record in the league since late May and sit just 4.5 games off of the Atlanta Braves in the National League East. That’s all to say that both team and player are in a very good place right now, and with control of the wild-card spot and a 3.5-game lead on a playoff spot, it’s likely they’re not done yet.