Every time Christian Arroyo searched for a word to describe his 2025 season, he came back to the same one: frustrating.
Who could blame the 30-year-old infielder? He has played in 37 of a possible 124 games in his first season in the Phillies organization.
Sadly, it’s not new for the Tampa, Florida, native.
He played in 37 games in 2024. The 6-foot, 220-pounder has averaged 65.6 games per year in his 13 professional seasons, including parts of six in the majors.
Arroyo, with his sixth organization, has been hampered by a wide assortment of injuries since being the Giants’ first-round pick in 2013. He’s on his third stint this year on the injured list.
“I wish it was the first time it happened,” he said. “But it seems that it’s been like this the last four years of my career. You go back every offseason and try to pinpoint what happened until you realize more than half of them are like this, things you can’t control. That’s probably the most frustrating part.”
Arroyo started strong in 2025, batting .357 with nine RBIs in his first seven games with the IronPigs. He then spent the next three weeks on the injured list with a left hamstring injury suffered while running the bases amid a 3-for-3 game in Rochester.
Upon his return to the lineup, Arroyo batted .313 with 15 RBIs and 12 runs in 22 games before a back injury put him back on the injured list for nearly two months.
“If you have a down year,” he said, “they always say, ‘Well, he was hurt. The guy goes on the IL a couple times and can never get going.’ The most frustrating part is that I’ve been going. I’ve been playing well.”
Arroyo’s latest placement on the injured list came after being hit on his left hand by a foul ball in his fourth game back this month in Buffalo. He is working on regaining his grip strength and is expected to return to Lehigh Valley before season’s end.
He had four RBIs and four walks in his latest three-game stint before getting hurt.
What has allowed Arroyo to do so well despite inconsistent playing time is an adjustment that has nothing to do with his batting stance or defensive positioning.
“I came into this season with a new mindset,” he said. “To see it bearing its own fruits was encouraging. Everyone’s career comes to a point where you figure it out mentally or you don’t and move on and figure out something else you want to do.
“The mental side, I think I’ve figured it out, but the physical side, it’s just frustrating. There’s not any other word to put behind it,” he said.
The injuries have come in every conceivable way: collisions, hit by pitches, swinging at pitches, running the bases, sliding into bases.
Arroyo has spent more time at the Phillies’ training complex in Clearwater, Florida, than he cares to remember but knows it is futile to get upset. He recognizes now that it is wasted energy.
So, while he’ll play far fewer games this season than he hoped, Arroyo is looking at the positives of where he is in his life.
“It’s been a fun year with a great group of guys,” he said, “and a good — a great — organization. I can’t complain at all. One of the things I’ve learned when coming back after not playing for a while, it’s easy to say that you have to simplify things. You have to oversimplify things, let the game come to me. You get pitches to hit some games; others you’re not.”
Arroyo also has enjoyed watching his teammates have success. Lehigh Valley is 73-52 after stretching its winning streak Sunday to six games with a 5-4 victory over Durham.
He’s found other ways to be productive while waiting to return to the active list.
“When I’ve gone through frustrations in the past,” Arroyo said, “I would kind of get in my own shell. I’ve tried to make it a point whether I’m available or not, whether I’m playing in a game or not, I just want to be a fountain for these guys.
“I come to the field every day and just try to pour into people,” he said. “That’s what is helping the most. It’s been a learning year. I feel like the last couple have been like that. I accept it. I can’t do anything about it. I’m just staying where I’m at today and move on.”
Roster moves
C Josh Breaux was reinstated from the Development List. RHP Gabe Mosser, a Parkland grad who allowed one run on five hits in six innings of Saturday night’s victory, was placed on the Development List.
How they scored
Top 2: Cooper Hummel hit his second home run of the season, a solo shot to lead off. Hummel hit a solo shot to break up a scoreless game with Ranger Suarez and the Phillies earlier this season before being designated for assignment by the Astros. Bulls 1-0
Top 3: Kameron Misner hit a solo shot with two outs, his second homer of the year. Bulls 2-0
Bottom 4: Justin Crawford smacked his fifth homer of the year, a 400-foot solo shot to lead off. Bulls 2-1
Bottom 6: Johan Rojas, who earlier extended his hitting streak to 10 games, walked to lead off. Justin Crawford bunted for a single and Otto Kemp walked to load the bases. Donovan Walton’s sacrifice fly scored Rojas and sent Crawford to third. Rafael Lantigua’s sacrifice fly scored Crawford. IronPigs 3-2
Bottom 7: Brewer Hicklen hit his 12th home run of the year, a solo shot, to lead off. IronPigs 4-2
Bottom 8: Kemp singled, stole second and scored on Payton Henry’s bloop single to right scored Kemp. IronPigs 5-2
Top 9: Tre Morgan singled and Cooper Hummel walked. After a fielder’s choice, Tristan Peters singled in Morgan. Tanner Murray’s two-out, two-strike double scored Keegan. Max Lazar saved Lehigh Valley’s first six-game series sweep since Aug. 29-Sept. 3, 2023, against the Syracuse Mets. Durham, which left runners on second and third in the ninth, were 7 for 58 in the series with runners in scoring position. IronPigs 5-4
Up next
After Monday’s off day, Lehigh Valley plays six games in Omaha. It is the IronPigs’ first series against the Storm Chasers.
Lehigh Valley returns home Sept. 2 for a six-game series against Toledo.
Senior writer Tom Housenick can be reached at thousenick@mcall.com.