Luis Arraez injured his left thumb sliding into third base throughout a sport on June 25. The continued discomfort was sufficient for Arraez to skip the All-Star Recreation to provide his thumb a full 4 days of relaxation over the break. Arraez revealed extra specifics concerning the harm Friday, telling Daniel Alvarez-Montes of El Extrabase and different reporters that he has a torn ligament in his thumb.
The Athletic’s Dennis Lin sheds more light on the scenario, saying that Arraez was given the okay to maintain taking part in after receiving a fuller medical examination in the course of the All-Star break. As Arraez described issues final month, he feels discomfort whereas swinging and fielding, but when the harm is all about ache tolerance, he needs to remain on the sphere if in any respect bodily doable.
The outcomes have been blended since June 25, when Arraez hit solely .280/.302/.352 in 130 plate appearances. It is a noticeable step again from the .310/.345/.384 slash line he delivered in his first 360 PA of the season. His total .302/.334/.375 slash line represents the bottom slugging share and OBP of Arraez’s six Main League seasons, in addition to the second-lowest batting common.
Arraez’s 103 wRC+ remains to be above the league common, if properly under the 132 wRC+ he posted in 2022-23 whereas successful consecutive batting titles in each the AL (with the Twins in 2022) and NL (with the Marlins final yr). Naturally Arraez would like to be hitting nearer to his normal normal, but he doubtless feels that so long as he’s nonetheless productive on the plate, he’ll proceed to try to grind it out. San Diego’s playoff chase is one other issue — the Padres enter Saturday’s motion holding the highest wild-card spot within the Nationwide League, they usually sit solely 2.5 video games behind the Dodgers for first place within the NL West.
The Friars have achieved this success regardless of lacking a number of key gamers for giant chunks of the season. It stays unclear when Fernando Tatis Jr. (femoral stress response) and Yu Darvish (restricted record as a result of a private matter) will return to the energetic roster. Nonetheless, Joe Musgrove is expected to return from the 60-day injured record on Monday to begin in opposition to the Pirates. Arraez’s nagging thumb drawback provides to the Padres’ record of considerations, although clearly, the group is making an attempt to handle the harm as finest as doable. Arraez is getting chunk of time as a delegated hitter.