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When the San Francisco Giants somewhat surprisingly signed second baseman Luis Arráez, I wrote a newser about it. It got nearly 900 comments. The next day, I asked the community how they felt about the signing. It got over 1,100 comments.
My takeaway is that Giants fans love to talk about Luis Arráez. So let’s talk about Luis Arráez.
You can’t determine too much from Spring Training, especially the first week of games. But if you could, you’d feel quite good about the $12 million contract that the team gave the three-time All-Star. He’s appeared in two of the team’s games, and has hit 3-6 with a double and two runs batted in. He’s even made some nice plays at second base.
That’s not the point of this article, though. The point of this article is to ask: where should Arráez bat?
In previous eras, it would be a question that required little to no thought at all: he would be the leadoff hitter. Arráez is unquestionably the best contact hitter alive, and has led the league in batting average three times in the last four years. Whole decades are rolling their eyes at the very thought of Arráez hitting anywhere other than first.
But there are some issues with batting him leadoff. For starters, he doesn’t draw walks with any regularity, so his on-base percentage isn’t particularly notable, despite the sky-high average. Last year Arráez had a .327 on-base percentage, which was the same mark as Jung Hoo Lee … and lower than Heliot Ramos, Matt Chapman, and Rafael Devers (as well as the departed Mike Yastrzemski and Dominic Smith).
Then there’s the issue of what happens after he makes contact. Arráez is primarily a singles hitter, and he ranks well below league average in taking the extra base as a runner. The pro of him batting leadoff is that he’ll smack a whole lot of hits to get on base ahead of the team’s best hitters. The con is that those hits will usually be singles, and there will be a lot of times where he holds at third when the hitter behind him doubles … or holds at second when there’s a single.
Still, the Giants seem to be leaning in that direction, as Arráez has hit leadoff in both of the games he’s played in this spring. And I certainly won’t fault the coaching staff for deciding they want Arráez to set the table for Chapman, Devers, Ramos, and Willy Adames, or ensure that they have a hit to open 50-60 games this year.
But I’d prefer he hit fifth or sixth. He’s going to struggle to score from first on a double, but the person hitting that double probably won’t struggle to then score on a single. So I’d flip them. Lee, Ramos, Adames, Chapman, and Devers combined for 133 doubles last year. Let them get into scoring position, and put the wear and tear on a pitcher who then has to face their worst nightmare: a contact maven who is almost certain to put the ball in play.
Then again, you could also put him in the heart of the order, sandwiched by the power hitters … serving as both the RBI machine and the table setter. Or you could put him at the back of the order, ensuring that the team won’t roll over and give opponents an easy out every third inning, and acting as the second leadoff hitter.
Of course, one of the joys of having a .300 hitter is that they usually look good no matter where you put them. It’s a good puzzle for the Giants to tinker with.