Inside The Padres

Padres' Luis Arraez Named National League Player of the Week

J.P. Hoornstra|
May 20, 2024; Cumberland, Georgia, USA; San Diego Padres second baseman Luis Arraez (4) makes a force out play against the Atlanta Braves during the eighth inning at Truist Park.Mandatory Credit: Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports
May 20, 2024; Cumberland, Georgia, USA; San Diego Padres second baseman Luis Arraez (4) makes a force out play against the Atlanta Braves during the eighth inning at Truist Park.Mandatory Credit: Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports | Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports

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San Diego Padres

Last week saw Luis Arraez's historic multi-hit game streak come to an end. The eight-game run fell one short of the Padres' franchise record held by Gary Sheffield in 1992.

What did Arraez do after his 0-for-4 effort on Friday? He picked right up where he left off.

Arraez finished the week with a 17-for-36 (.472) batting line that included a home run, four RBIs, and only one strikeout. That was good enough for Arraez to win National League Player of the Week honors, MLB announced Tuesday.

Bobby Witt Jr. of the Kansas City Royals won the award in the American League.

Arraez and the Padres are in the middle of a revenge series against the Miami Marlins, who traded the former Silver Slugger award winner to San Diego on May 3 for Dillon Head, Jakob Marsee, Nathan Marorella and Woo Suk-Go.

Since the trade Arraez is hitting .385 (35 for 91) with only three strikeouts. His arrival preceded a major injury to Xander Bogaerts, who was in a season-long slump before he fractured his left shoulder, leaving the Padres without their starting second baseman for months. Besides bolstering the top of the lineup, Arraez quickly ended up filling a big vacancy on the infield that didn't even exist at the time of the trade.

The last Padre to win the NL Player of the Month award was Juan Soto, who collected the honor last September.

Arraez, 27, is a career .326 hitter in six seasons with the Minnesota Twins, Marlins and Padres. He has led his league in batting average each of the last two seasons, and is currently leading the NL in hits, with 76 in 54 games.

The Venezuelan veteran has reached base safely in 20 of his 21 games since joining the Padres in a trade from the Marlins. He has hit safely in 18 of the 21 games, with multiple hits in 11 of the contests.

The San Diego Padres have used Arraez at first base, second base and designated hitter since the trade.

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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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