Acquired at the trade deadline in a deal with the San Francisco Giants, second baseman Luis Arraez has taken a slight step backward since joining the Philadelphia Phillies. Across 32 games with the organization, the 29-year-old three-time batting champion has hit .290 with a .305 on-base percentage, .692 OPS, two home runs and 14 RBIs.
As has been the problem for most of Arraez’s career, he has not drawn many walks or hit for much power. Still, Arraez showed during his time in San Francisco that he has some pop in the tank and the Phillies are still waiting for that to kick in consistently.
The Phillies are likely heading to the National League wild card round, as leapfrogging the Atlanta Braves in the NL East is a tall task and finishing with a record high enough to earn a top-two seed is equally difficult. Arraez was hoping to be a contributor for Philadelphia come October, but health issues have continued to surface for him.
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During Tuesday’s narrow 6-5 loss against the Houston Astros, Arraez left the game early with an apparent injury.
In the bottom of the eighth inning he was suddenly removed from the game, with Garrett Stubbs entering in his place as a pinch runner. In the top of the ninth inning Stubbs remained in the game with Alec Bohm shifting to third base and Bryson Stott moving over to second.
After the game, interim manager Don Mattingly had an update on Arraez’s exit, revealing that he was okay after being hit by a pitch and that his removal was precautionary, per Phillies reporter David Malandra Jr.
Arraez will look to slot right back into the starting nine for Wednesday’s matchup with Houston as the Phillies look to get back in the win column after nearly completing a comeback on Tuesday.
