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Watching the Twins’ Luis Arraez through the eyes of hall of famer Rod Carew

dane mizutani, pioneer press
·5 min read

It was a Friday night in Kansas City last month and Twins infielder Luis Arraez had just gone 2 for 5 to raise his batting average to .349.

Despite yet another hitting clinic from Arraez in that game, Twins hall of famer Rod Carew remembers being slightly perturbed watching on television. He noticed the 25-year-old Venezuelan was trying to lift the ball to the outfield, and because of that, was coming out of his crouch a split-second too soon.

“It wasn’t him,” said Carew, a seven-time batting champion who still holds the Twins’ record with a .334 career average. “He was trying to hit the ball in the air. I had to get on him about doing that. There are no base hits in the air.”

So the 78-year-old Carew called Twins play-by-play announcer Dick Bremer and asked him to deliver the message. The following game Arraez went 3 for 5 to raise his average to .359.

“I don’t know,” Carew said with a hearty laugh. “I guess he must have listened to what I told him.”

A few weeks later, Arraez is still a tough out for opposing teams. His average of .359 led the American League as of Friday afternoon, and after a solid series against the New York Yankees, he isn’t showing any signs of slowing down.

“It’s like he’s on fire all the time,” Twins manager Rocco Baldelli said. “That’s not normal.”

There is something almost mythical about Arraez whenever he steps into the batter’s box. He shakes his head at pitches outside of the strike zone. He dances something resembling the bachata if he feels like he missed a chance to put the barrel of the bat on the ball.

“You’ve got to have some confidence up there and it’s fun to see guys show it like Luis does,” said former Twins star Joe Mauer, a three-time batting champion himself. “I really enjoy watching him approach an at-bat and execute a plan. It’s not an easy thing to do. He just makes it look like it is.”

Asked about his prowess at the plate, Arraez made it sound simple.

“I never change my approach,” he said. “I just want to hit the ball on the barrel of the bat.”

Though getting the barrel of the bat on the ball might sound like common sense, Carew noted that Arraez’s ability to stay within himself allows him to do that with consistency. He has a plan every time he steps into the batter’s box and he rarely strays from that.

It’s not a coincidence that Arraez has only struck out 16 times this season.

“I’m proud of him because some kids these days just don’t understand who they are as a hitter,” Carew said. “He does. He knows what works for him and what’s going to get him to be in the lineup every day.”

It’s fitting that Arraez has a close relationship with Carew. The Twins’ best hitter in present day learning from the best hitter in franchise history. They met at spring training in Fort Myers a couple of years ago and have remained close ever since.

“He told me the type of hitter he wanted to be, and every day he would come to me with questions like, ‘How am I doing?’ ” Carew said. “I told him I’d watch him during the games and if there was something that I saw that he was doing wrong, I would call him.”

Which explains the exchange from last month.

If anyone understands the subtle nuances that make Arraez among the best hitters in the game, it’s Carew. The things that might not compute to the average person make perfect sense to him.

There are some specific examples Carew pointed out when analyzing Arraez.

“He never rolls over on pitches on the outside corner of the plate,” Carew said. “He either takes those pitches up the middle or to the opposite field. He has an understanding of, ‘If I do this with this pitch, I’m going to be an out.’ ”

Anything else?

“He’s almost always going to keep the ball on the line or on the ground,” Carew said. “He knows if he starts swinging up trying to get that loft, his body is going to pop up, and he’s going to end up forcing himself to do things that he’s not accustomed to doing.”

While it might be true that chicks dig the long ball — shoutout to hall of fame pitchers Greg Maddux and Tom Glavine for coining the iconic phrase — Carew said the biggest reason for Arraez’s success is that he hasn’t tried to become something he’s not.

“I’m glad he’s not going with the idea that the more home runs he hits the better hitter he’s going to be,” Carew said. “Everyone is a different type of hitter. There are some guys that have the power to hit it out of the ballpark. There some guys that get on consistently by using the whole field to hit. That’s what he’s been doing.”

Truthfully, Arraez is never going to be someone who hits a lot of home runs. He’s more than content to get on base and leave the long balls to teammates Byron Buxton, Carlos Correa, and Max Kepler, among others.

“He knows that he’s not going to hit the ball out of the ballpark,” Carew said. “He understands who he is and stays within those bounds.”

That said, Arraez proved on Thursday night at Target Field that he does have some pop.

After a pitch from Yankees ace Gerrit Cole buzzed him up high, Arraez demonstratively reset himself in the batter’s box. A few pitches later, he turned on a changeup, lifted it to the outfield and deposited the ball into the Target Field outfield seats for a leadoff home run.

Does that mean Arraez is going to suddenly start swinging for the fences? Not a chance. There’s no way Carew would let that happen.

“I always remind him to keep doing what he’s doing and he’s going to be OK,” Carew said. “If he can maintain that consistency, he’s never going to be overpowered in any situation because he really has an idea of what he wants to do with every pitch that he sees.”

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