Inside The Padres

Padres' Luis Arraez Already On Brink of Matching Franchise Record

J.P. Hoornstra|
San Diego Padres Luis Arraez (4) runs the bases in the1st inning after hitting a homer 374 feet Wednesday May 22, 2024 at Great American Ball Park in Cincinnati.
San Diego Padres Luis Arraez (4) runs the bases in the1st inning after hitting a homer 374 feet Wednesday May 22, 2024 at Great American Ball Park in Cincinnati. | Cara Owsley/The Enquirer / USA TODAY

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San Diego Padres

The San Diego Padres only acquired Luis Arraez from the Miami Marlins on May 4, but it's hard to imagine where the team would be without him.

In addition to his steady bat — more on that in a bit — Arraez has started four consecutive games on the infield in the wake of a major injury to second baseman Xander Bogaerts. Arraez started at first base Thursday in Cincinnati, allowing Jake Cronenworth to slide over to second base, after starting three consecutive games at second base himself.

Whatever the Padres get from Arraez in the field is a bonus. He's being paid to hit, and he is swinging a hotter bat than almost anyone in franchise history.

Including the Padres' 6-4, 10-inning win Thursday, Arraez is riding a new career-long 28-game on-base streak, the longest active on-base streak in Major League Baseball. He also has multiple hits in a career-long eight consecutive games since May 14, batting .526 (20-for-38).

The longest multi-hit streak in Padres' history is nine games by Gary Sheffield back in 1992. Even Hall of Famer Tony Gwynn (nicknamed "Mr. Padre") never had multiple hits in more consecutive games than Arraez has amassed in the last two weeks.

Arraez's 4-for-5 performance Thursday raised his batting aveage to .341. More critically as the Padres' leadoff hitter, Arraez is reaching base at a .382 clip.

The Padres' win over the Reds evened their record at 26-26, currently good for second place in the National League West.

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J.P. Hoornstra
J.P. HOORNSTRA

J.P. Hoornstra is an On SI Contributor. A veteran of 20 years of sports coverage for daily newspapers in California, J.P. covered MLB, the Los Angeles Dodgers, and the Los Angeles Angels (occasionally of Anaheim) from 2012-23 for the Southern California News Group. His first book, The 50 Greatest Dodgers Games of All-Time, published in 2015. In 2016, he won an Associated Press Sports Editors award for breaking news coverage. He once recorded a keyboard solo on the same album as two of the original Doors.

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