Miss me yet? Luis Arraez sparks Padres to blowout win in first game after trade

[Ely Sussman]

Arraez made the best possible first impression on his new team, recording hits in four straight at-bats on Saturday to begin his Padres tenure.

Hours after consummating a blockbuster trade with each other on Saturday morning, the Miami Marlins and San Diego Padres were involved in the day's two most lopsided MLB games. In Oakland, the Marlins surrendered 20 runs to a typically feeble Athletics lineup, outclassed so thoroughly that they used a position player to pitch the final frame. In Arizona, Luis Arraez enjoyed an unprecedented Padres debut during a wire-to-wire 13-1 victory.

It is unusual for a player to be traded and inserted into his new club's starting lineup on the same day—most need a day in between to get fully acclimated to their surroundings. Nobody was as disappointed by Arraez's eagerness to play as Diamondbacks right-hander Brandon Pfaadt.

Top of the first inning, on the second pitch he saw as a Padre, Arraez ripped an inside fastball into the right-field corner for a standup double (he scored later in the inning). In the third, he served a fastball above the strike zone to left field for a single. In the fourth, he stepped to the plate with runners on the corners and two outs. In classic Arraez fashion, he stayed back on a changeup tailing away from him and gently lined it to left for a run-scoring single. Then in the seventh, Pfaadt was ahead in the count, 1-2. He tried getting Arraez to swing underneath a fastball at the letters. It resulted in a bloop single.

With the game virtually decided already, Diamondbacks relievers had success against Arraez, inducing a lineout to center in the seventh and a groundout to shortstop in the ninth. He still finished the night 4-for-6, raising his batting average to .315, which ranks eighth among National League qualifiers. He also became the first player ever to record four hits in his Padres debut.

None of the minor leaguers that the Marlins acquired in exchange for Arraez have been activated yet. Expect OF Dillon Head (Low-A Jupiter), OF Jakob Marsee (Double-A Pensacola) and 1B Nathan Martorella (Pensacola) to make their organizational debuts on Tuesday.

View full article