Luis Arraez Has Message for Giants Fans as Regular Season Approaches

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The San Francisco Giants are beginning the long march through spring training exhibition games to the regular season.
The Giants have the honor of playing in the first game of the regular season as they will host the New York Yankees on March 25. The debut game of the season is on Netflix, the first game of the streamer’s new MLB contract. It will also be a return to the Bay Area for California native and Yankees slugger Aaron Judge, who spurned the Giants in free agency a few years ago.
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San Francisco is chasing its first postseason berth since the 2021 season and as part of the formula they hope that Luis Arráez, their new second baseman and one of the best contact hitters in baseball, can contribute to getting back to the postseason.
Luis Arráez’s Message to Giants Fans
"I wanna say something to the fans..."
— KNBR (@KNBR) February 20, 2026
Luis Arraez has a message for Giants fans before he plays his first game in San Francisco.
(via @knbrmurph & @MarkusBoucher) pic.twitter.com/ZRvmoXrJOo
During a radio interview with “Murph and Markus” on KNBR, the flagship station for Giants baseball, Arráez had a message for Giants fans when the team gets back to San Francisco — get loud.
“I want to say something to the fans. I play in different stadiums — Minnesota, Miami San Diego and now here. So, let’s see what the fans have for us, OK? I want to say something to the fans. You guys need to get loud. You guys need to get loud because we’re going there and then we’re going to play the game the right way. We’re going to do something good for you guys.”
San Francisco started its exhibition game slate on Saturday in Peoria, Ariz., against the Seattle Mariners.
Arráez is only with the Giants on a one-year deal and hasn’t played second base much the past few years. In San Diego he played mostly first base. San Francisco needs him to be adequate defensively at second base. What the Giants really need from is his bat.
He won three batting titles in a row from 2022-24, including the final season in which he split the campaign between the Miami Marlins and the San Diego Padres. He’s also led the National League in hits each of the past two seasons. He is known for contact and avoiding strikeouts. He has never struck out more than 50 times in a single season.
He dominates old-school numbers. He is the best active career hitter in the Majors by average at .317. But his lifetime OPS is .777, where .800 is considered above average
He also has a lifetime on-base percentage of .363, with .320 considered average. He just happens to be coming off his worst season in OBP with .327. His .292 batting average was also a career low for a single season. Entering his age 29 season, that step back is unlikely to be a trend. He’s batted .300 or better in six of his nine MLB seasons.
His job, assuming he hits leadoff, will be to set the table for power hitters like Willy Adames, Rafael Devers and Matt Chapman.

Matthew Postins is an award-winning sports journalist who covers Major League Baseball for OnSI. He also covers the Big 12 Conference for Heartland College Sports.
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