Luis Arraez of the Miami Marlins has achieved a record as he became the second player to clinch a batting title in both leagues.
Luis Arraez is the 1st player since Benny Kauff in 1914-15 in the Federal League to win the batting title in consecutive seasons with different teams.
He's the 1st player to do it in AL/NL history.
h/t @EliasSports pic.twitter.com/TwFHUH7gvb
— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) October 2, 2023
According to ESPN Stats and Info, “Luis Arraez is the 1st player since Benny Kauff in 1914-15 in the Federal League to win the batting title in consecutive seasons with different teams. He’s the 1st player to do it in AL/NL history.”
Luis Arraez, a name for the history books. pic.twitter.com/DGL7lCLuWj
— Miami Marlins (@Marlins) October 1, 2023
When Arraez hit .316 for the Minnesota Twins in 2022, he also won the American League hitting title. According to MLB, Arraez regarding winning the prestigious title said, “It means a lot,”
“I worked hard for this. I worked hard to help my team win, and this is amazing. And I can’t wait until we get to 27 outs today and then they come and say, ‘Hey, you won the batting title again.’ It’s making me happy because I work hard.”
The Marlins set out to improve their lineup and in January, Luis Arraez, the reigning American League batting champion, was hired. Miami Marlins general manager Kim Ng was behind the making of this deal.
He had earlier mentioned, “We’ve said it before, what we were looking for for our lineup, we were looking for pure hitters, and obviously he fits that mold,”
“Obviously, I didn’t know him like I do now. He’s hard to appreciate until you see him every day. And that’s not anything against him, especially in the right stretch. But nonetheless, when you watch his barrel control, when you watch how he approaches his at-bats, you can look at the numbers, but you still don’t appreciate actually watching what he does pitch to pitch.”
His mentor Nelson Cruz also shares, “He’s special,”
“You don’t find that type of hitter, especially in this day and age. It’s hard to find this type of hitter. We know he can hit. He’s really intense. He can focus on every single pitch, and he fights for that pitch like that’s the end of his life. He doesn’t want to give up pitches, he doesn’t want to give up at-bats. It doesn’t matter the situation, doesn’t matter the scoreboard. He will go out there and give everything he has every single pitch. Besides the great hitter that he is, that’s what makes him special. He doesn’t give up pitches.”
