Luis Arraez suffered an damage to his left thumb whereas sliding into third base throughout a recreation again on June 25, and the continuing discomfort was sufficient for Arraez to skip enjoying within the All-Star Sport so he may give his thumb a full 4 days of relaxation over the break. Arraez revealed extra specifics concerning the damage yesterday, telling Daniel Alvarez-Montes of El Extrabase and different reporters that he has a torn ligament in his thumb.
The Athletic’s Dennis Lin (by way of X) sheds some extra mild on the scenario, saying that Arraez was given the okay to maintain enjoying after he acquired a fuller medical examination throughout the All-Star break. As Arraez described issues final month, he feels discomfort whereas swinging and fielding, but when the damage is finally all about ache tolerance, he needs to remain on the sector if in any respect bodily doable.
The outcomes have been blended, since Arraez is hitting solely .280/.302/.352 in 130 plate appearances since June 25. It’s a noticeable step again from the .310/.345/.384 slash line he delivered in his first 360 PA of the season, and his total .302/.334/.375 slash line represents the bottom slugging proportion 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 beneath 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 favor to be hitting nearer to his normal commonplace, but he possible feels that so long as he’s nonetheless productive on the plate, he’ll proceed to attempt to grind it out. San Diego’s playoff chase is clearly one other issue — the Padres enter as we speak’s motion holding the highest wild card spot within the Nationwide League, and so they 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 large chunks of the season. It stays unclear when Fernando Tatis Jr. (femoral stress response) and Yu Darvish (restricted checklist as a result of a private matter) will return to the energetic roster, although Joe Musgrove is anticipated to make his return from the 60-day injured checklist on Monday to begin in opposition to the Pirates. Arraez’s nagging thumb downside provides to the Padres’ checklist of issues, although clearly the crew is making an attempt to handle the damage as finest as doable, as Arraez is getting a great chunk of time at designated hitter.
