Who's hotter right now, the Miami Marlins or Luis Arraez? There's no wrong answer. The Marlins blew out the Toronto Blue Jays on Monday night (MIA 11, TOR 0) thanks in large part to Arraez, who went 5 for 5 and raised his season batting average back up .400. Arraez is 102 for 255 this season. That is .400 on the nose.
Arraez's batting average was last at .400 on June 10, when he went 2 for 4 and finished that night's game hitting .402. His average dipped to .378 on June 14, but a pair of five-hit games got him back to .400. Arraez's five-hit effort Monday raised his overall season batting line to .400/.450/.490.
Arraez went 5 for 5 on June 2 and also on June 16. He is only the fourth player with three five-hit games in a single month, joining Hall of Famers George Sisler (August 1921), Ty Cobb (July 1922), and Tony Gwynn (June 1984), according to ESPN. The Marlins still have 10 games remaining in June, giving Arraez plenty of time to put up another five-hit game or two.
Arraez's .400 batting average is tied for the ninth highest through 73 team games since 1941, when Ted Williams hit .406 as the last player to hit .400 in a full season. Here's the list per MLB.com:
1. Andrés Galarraga, 1993 Rockies
.420
.370
2. Larry Walker, 1997 Rockies
.415
.366
3. Stan Musial, 1948 Cardinals
.411
.376
4. Tony Fernández, 1999 Blue Jays
.410
.328
5. Rod Carew, 1977 Twins
.407
.388
6. John Olerud, 1993 Blue Jays
.405
.363
7. Tommy Holmes, Braves
.404
.352
8. Rod Carew, 1983 Angels
.404
.339
9. Chipper Jones, 2008 Braves
.400
.364
10. Luis Arraez, 2023 Marlins
.400
???
Miami acquired Arraez, who led the American League with a .316 batting average last year, from the Minnesota Twins in a January trade that sent Pablo López and two prospects to Minnesota. López allowed five runs (four earned) in 5 2/3 innings against the Boston Red Sox on Monday. He has a 4.40 ERA in 15 starts this season.
As for the Marlins, Monday's win was their fifth straight and the 17th in their last 22 games. They have baseball's best record since May 25 and are 4.5 games behind the idle Atlanta Braves in the NL East. Miami sits in the top wild-card spot with a 3.5-game lead on a postseason berth.
