As a kid, Luis Arraez hated striking out so much he used to cry afterward.
As he grew up and became a professional, the tears abated. But the hatred never did. So it’s a good thing that he has just a 4.5% strikeout rate this season, the lowest in MLB. In 105 games this season, Arraez has struck out 21 times and walked 25 times.
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“I love to put the ball in play, and I hate strikeouts,” Arraez said. “So I want to go there and try to do my job.”
After Arraez — along with the Phillies’ other trade deadline acquisitions, relievers Caleb Kilian and Brooks Raley — reported to the club Tuesday, the shake-up was felt immediately. Interim manager Don Mattingly went the unconventional route with his lineup against the Nationals, placing slugger Kyle Schwarber at leadoff and contact hitter Arraez at cleanup.
Arraez has only played 39 career games in the No. 4 spot of the order, but where he hits makes no difference to him.
“I don’t care. If I see my name in the lineup, I’ll be happy,” Arraez said.
Mattingly’s thought process behind the unorthodox lineup was splitting up the left-handers. With the addition of Arraez, three of the Phillies’ top four hitters in the order are left-handed. Mattingly moved the right-handed Trea Turner to No. 2, in between Schwarber and Bryce Harper at No. 3.
The fact that Arraez has only hit four homers this year didn’t deter Mattingly from putting him at cleanup, a spot that traditionally is reserved for a team’s best power hitter. Mattingly cared more about Arraez’s .324 batting average.
“You figure he’s coming up with men on base, and it doesn’t take a homer to drive in a run,” Mattingly said. “Base hit drives in runs from second base.”
Arraez said the biggest thing he brings to the team is his energy. Mere hours after arriving, he already appeared to be at home in the Phillies clubhouse. It helped that he’s already familiar with several of his new teammates after coinciding with them on previous stops. He played with Jhoan Duran on the Twins, Jesús Luzardo and Bryan De La Cruz on the Marlins, and José Alvarado on Venezuela at the 2023 World Baseball Classic.
But Arraez is maybe most excited to join forces with Cristopher Sánchez. Arraez has struggled against the Phillies lefty, going just 1-for-18 against him in his career.
“Now I don’t have to face Cristopher Sánchez. He’s so nasty,” Arraez said. “Now we are teammates, so I’m really excited.”
He has good memories at Citizens Bank Park, as well. In 2023, Arraez hit for the cycle there, becoming the first Marlins player in history to do so. He and the Marlins returned to South Philadelphia later in the season for the wild-card series, which the Phillies swept in two games.
“I was with Miami, and the fans were so loud,” Arraez said. “I never forgot.”
New infield
In addition to a new-look batting order, Tuesday’s game brought the first test of the Phillies’ new defensive alignment. Arraez, the Phillies’ new second baseman, spent time pregame chatting and taking grounders with Turner, his new double play partner.
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To open a spot on the infield for Arraez, Harper is moving from first to right field, Alec Bohm is moving from third to first, and Bryson Stott has moved from second to third.
Arraez was grateful that his new teammates would make these positional switches for him.
“There’s a lot of respect, especially to Bryce Harper. MVP, and then he moved for me, and it’s a lot of respect for me,” Arraez said.
With three of the Phillies’ fielders playing positions they haven’t played regularly in several years, Mattingly might consider making defensive switches late in games when the Phillies have the lead. In those situations, teams typically prioritize having their best defensive alignment in the field.
“We talked to Harp about possibly having to come back in [to first] during the course of a game,” Mattingly said. “Had no problem with that. Same with Bohmer, possibly going to third in the course of a game. So I think it does give us versatility and gives us some areas that we can do things. And knowing that we can cover spots. Maybe not what we want to do all the time, but I think in the course of trying to win a game, you make moves, you end up with a different lineup.”
Mattingly, a nine-time Gold Glove first baseman, had a watchful eye over Bohm as he took drills at first base on Tuesday.
“I’m trying to just talk about some of the finer details, how we want to come off the bag here, how we want to cover different balls, playing behind a guy, how you want to play that,” Mattingly said. “It’s just really going through it and understanding where you want to be and why.”
Extra bases
Outfielder Gabriel Rincones Jr. and left-hander Kyle Backhus were both optioned to clear 26-man roster spots for two of the Phillies’ three deadline acquisitions. The third spot was previously vacated by Seth Johnson, who was traded to the A’s on Monday. … Andrew Painter (1-8, 6.72 ERA) is scheduled to start Wednesday opposite Nationals right-hander Jake Irvin (2-5, 5.56 ERA).
No matter what moves the Phillies make before the trade deadline Monday, they will have to fix some of their issues internally. Chief among them: Trea Turner’s defense at shortstop. And that’s where infield coach Bobby Dickerson comes in. Dickerson sat down with “Phillies Extra,” The Inquirer’s baseball podcast, to discuss Turner’s struggles, the problems with analytics in measuring defense, his unique coaching style, and more. Watch here.
You can also subscribe to the podcast version of Phillies Extra on Spotify or Apple Podcasts.
Previous episodes: Jim Bowden | John Middleton | Ryan Howard | Dan Baker | Ricky Bottalico | Preston Mattingly | Caleb Cotham | Larry Bowa | Joe Maddon | Rhys Hoskins
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