The defending batting champion is unable to participate in the MLB All-Star Game due to a thumb injury.
Despite being fifth in Major League Baseball in hitting average and second in hits, San Diego Padres infielder Luis Arraez will not play in the MLB All-Star Game on Tuesday. Arraez cites a thumb ailment as his reason for missing the game.
“I need the rest,” Arraez stated, according to ESPN.
Arraez first noticed problems with his thumb during San Diego’s game against Kansas City on June 2. Since the injury, he has hit.258, lowering his season hitting average to.310. Despite his recent troubles, he remains in a strong position to become the first Padre to win a batting title since Tony Gwynn in 1997. He is presently third in the National League hitting average rankings, trailing Milwaukee’s Christian Yelich and Los Angeles’ Shohei Ohtani.
This is Arraez’s third consecutive MLB All-Star game appearance with a different team, following Minnesota in 2022 and Miami in 2023. In May, the Marlins traded Arraez to the San Diego Padres for four prospects. Arraez said he will fly to Arlington to attend the celebrations but will not play in the game.
Luis Arraez’s injury opens up a space on the National League All-Star bench for Tuesday night’s game. There is no indication yet on who manager Tony Lovollo will select for that position.
After losing six of their previous seven games, the Padres are only one game behind the final National League Wild Card place heading into the second half. During that time, they dropped two of three games to the Arizona Diamondbacks and the Atlanta Braves, both of which are also in the race.
Impact on Padres’ second half
Padres manager Mike Schildt told MLB.com that he did not think a stint on the injured list was “necessary” for Arraez despite missing the final game of the Braves series on Sunday. Arraez will be available for their first series back from the break in Cleveland, which begins on Friday. The road trip concludes up with three games versus Washington and Baltimore before the Padres travel back home.
With two interleague games and one against the Nationals, who are way out of the Wild Card competition, Arraez’s health will be a focus in August. In August, the Padres will face the Pittsburgh Pirates, New York Mets, and St. Louis Cardinals, all of which are in a very close race. The Padres will need Arraez and all of their best players to be healthy during that span.
For the Padres to make the playoffs this season, Arraez must not only be in the lineup, but also hit like he has the previous two seasons. His extraordinarily high average is why San Diego traded for him in May, and he lived up to that expectation during the first month with the Padres. In May, Arraez batted.389, largely with the Padres. When the second half of the season begins on Friday, the Padres will be looking for Arraez to return to his batting-title level of play as they push for the playoffs.
