My Spanish is terrible. I stumbled upon this video on YouTube of a recent Arraez video. The comments on YouTube have translations that read anywhere from being an incredible father and husband, to commending his tenacity in trying to get another batting title, even while playing hurt.
This video is an hour long. I thought I’d share it for anyone interested in watching. But, if there are kind souls in this Padres thread that are fluent in Spanish and would like to provide a SparkNotes summary of this interview, we’d all be very grateful. Seems like Luis is a great guy and teammate, and us fans never knew what he was going through last year.
3 comments
-Seems the concussion did more damage but he refused to take more tests to get back playing with us
-he wants a potential team that values his ability to put the ball in play
-Talks about him making 100 bucks a day in construction and continuing to work hard for the future of his daughters
-talks about the logistics of contracts and the process
– obviously about how his family motivates him to work hard and continue playing his best
– then talks about his culture and how he enjoys being around his people from Venezuela
that’s the general gist, sort of skimmed but those are the general ones
The part of the interview about his concussion seems newsworthy.
Arraez was dizzy, bothered by lights, and was uncomfortable with people being near him for the entirety of the season post-injury. He believed that if he told anyone about his condition, he would be forced to take tests which he would fail, and he’d get benched for the remainder of the season. So he kept this to himself.
He also mentioned having his upcoming free agency in mind, though he makes an effort to distinguish the two.
This could explain why he had a down year, and suggests many are undervaluing him.
My wife watched this interview. She said its a great interview. My wife is from Venezuela and loves baseball. She told me that he talked about his concession experience. I want to watch it myself, but unfortunately, I do not speak Spanish well enough.