Thumbing the Line

 

There's all this talk about how Shohei Ohtani's probably winning an MVP while rehabbing from Tommy John surgery, yet nothing about how Luis Arraez is probably gonna lead the NL in hits with a busted thumb.

I mean, that is the one aspect that has held back Arraez's season in one way or another. He hurt his thumb, and that's not only impeded on his ability to play defense at 2nd, or even at 1st, but it's made it hard for him to be more than just a contact guy. He's not gonna win a batting title this year, even if he still finishes around .300. And he's gonna finish with his lowest OPS since 2021, undoubtedly. This is ultimately Arraez on a rehab year, and once he gets the rest of the offseason to let the thumb heal and not go right back into the wringer every day, he'll be able to come back in full force for 2025.

But...let's be absolutely clear. Luis Arraez is still leading the NL in hits, with 166. He's not got the whole league down, thanks to what will inevitably be Bobby Witt Jr,'s first of many 200+ hit seasons, but he's leading in the NL, and will at least get that on his resume rather than hitting .333 like usual. And, like Ohtani, even if all he is is just a hard-hitting, reliable DH...that's still really good. You still get to play him basically every day and have him join in on the fun, all while you get to start healthy players in the infield. You keep the .300 hitter in the lineup while Cronenworth, Machado, Bogaerts and now rookie Mason McCoy get to hit as well. It's a win-win. 

Apart from Arraez, the Padres are still in great shape heading into the last month of the season. Manny Machado's fully hot now, and heading for a 25+ homer year, which would be his ninth. Jurickson Profar is 20 RBIs away from what would be his first career 100+ RBI year, and he's on a decent enough pace to do it. Jackson Merrill and his multi-tool debut season is looking to collect during awards week, while Dylan Cease eyes a strikeout title in addition to his fourth consecutive 200+ K year, without even mentioning that 11 more will give him 1000 career strikeouts. Jason Adam, Tanner Scott, Bryan Hoeing and Martin Perez have made this pitching staff even better than it already was. And there is a nonzero probability that Fernando Tatis Jr. would be ready for the playoffs.

Even for a team who's at best looking at a wild card spot, the Padres have so much to be excited about, and feel much more genuine than they did arguably in the 'go broke for Seidler' years. I'm not sure how far they'll go ultimately, but they're a really impressive team that outdid a lot of people's expectations.

Coming Tomorrow- The Pirates gave him up for Chris Archer, which I suppose they kinda regret about now, even if they've both been injured an awful lot.