Miami Marlins’ Luis Arraez runs away with NL batting title, makes MLB history in process

Miami Marlins All-Star second baseman Luis Arraez on Sunday became the first player in MLB history to win a batting title in consecutive seasons in different leagues. He won the American League batting title in 2022 while playing with the Minnesota Twins before being traded to the Marlins in the offseason in exchange for right-handed pitcher Pablo Lopez and two prospects.

Arraez finished the season with a .354 batting average, well ahead of runner-up Ronald Acuna Jr. in the National League.

Two others have won a batting title in both leagues but they weren’t in consecutive years. DJ LeMahieu was a batting champion in the National League in 2016 and the American League in 2020, while Ed Delahanty won the NL title in 1899 and the AL title in 1902.

“It means a lot,” Arraez, who last started on Sept. 23 while dealing with a left ankle injury, said Sunday. “I worked hard for this. I worked hard to help my team win. This is amazing.”

Arraez is the first player to finish a season with a batting average above .350 in a full season (excluding the pandemic-shortened 2020 season) since Josh Hamilton in 2010 (.359) with the Texas Rangers and the first in the National League since Chipper Jones (.364) with the Atlanta Braves and Albert Pujols (.357) with the St. Louis Cardinals in 2008.

Last year, Arraez hit .316 to secure the AL batting title.

Arraez hit for the first cycle in Marlins history on April 11 against the Philadelphia Phillies and had three five-hit games, seven games with at least four hits and 20 with at least three hits.

“Incredible year,” Marlins manager Skip Schumaker said. “It felt like he was hitting .400 the majority of the year. When he slumped, he was hitting .360. It’s insane to think about. He’s the heartbeat of our lineup, and it just feels really good when he’s in it.”

He is the third player in Marlins history to win a National League batting title. The others: Dee Strange Gordon in 2015 and Hanley Ramirez in 2009.

Arraez’s .354 average is a new Marlins single-season record, surpassing Ramirez’s mark of .342 set when he won the NL batting title in 2009. No other Marlins batter has hit higher than .340 in a season.

His 203 hits are fifth in Marlins history in a single season. Juan Pierre holds the franchise record with 221 hits in the 2004 season.

Here is what Arraez had to say Sunday about winning his second batting title.

Where do you feel you improved the most from last year to this year?

“I worked harder. I worked harder this year. I just wake up and start putting in work. I want to say ‘Thanks, God’ to my family and to my hitting coach Frank Valdez. He was just there 24 hours for me. He helped me a lot. And then my wife, my mom, my dad. They are everything. I want to give this to them.”

If you had to explain your hitting approach to somebody, how would you do so?

“I just trust myself. I just try to do my best every time. I just go compete and try to put the ball in play.”

Looking back, you were hitting nearly .400 at the All-Star Game. Just how crazy was that?

“I felt so comfortable. I would see the number and say ‘Wow, those numbers are crazy,’ but I worked hard for that. When I see that, it was when I could hit the ball to left field, center, right. I would get three hits, four hits every day. It’s crazy.”