There wasn’t a free agent on this year’s market more polarizing than infielder Luis Arraez, who’s reportedly joining the Giants on a one-year, $12 million deal.
Is Arraez the best pure hitter in the game, one who evokes shades of Tony Gwynn? Is he propped up by high batting averages that distract from his litany of weaknesses? Or, is the truth somewhere in the middle?
Despite the lack of consensus, Arraez is objectively the only player in baseball with his specific set of skills. If nothing else, he makes for an absolutely fascinating player, one whose profile merits a closer look.
The 28-year-old’s superpower is obvious: He makes contact more than anyone in the sport, and it’s not remotely close.
Arraez made his debut in 2019, which, somewhat serendipitously, was the same year that Hall of Fame contact hitter Ichiro Suzuki played his final game. Since his first game, Arraez leads all qualified hitters with a contact rate of 93.8 percent. He’s led the majors in contact rate in each of the last four seasons, peaking at 95.9 percent last year with the Padres.
With contact comes hits, and with hits comes batting average. Arraez owns a career .317 average, which is the highest among active players. This millennium, only Vladimir Guerrero Sr. (.318) and Barry Bonds (.322) have higher batting averages. Arraez, then, is a true throwback hitter in an era where batting averages have plummeted due to advancements in pitching.
Arraez also has a knack for delivering timely hits, boasting a career .349 batting average and .837 OPS with runners in scoring position. That ability to hit in big moments is significant for the Giants, which finished 17th in on-base percentage and 19th in batting average with runners in scoring position last season.
Given his sky-high contact rates, it should come as no surprise that Arraez is essentially allergic to striking out.
Since 2019, no qualified hitter has a lower strikeout rate than Arraez’s mark of 6.1 percent. In ’25, Arraez struck out only 21 times over 675 plate appearances, good for a career-low 3.1 percent. The presence of Arraez and Jung Hoo Lee, another bat-to-ball savant, should provide stylistic variance to the Giants’ lineups.
With his elite contact rates, miniscule strikeout rates and high batting averages, Arraez has nabbed two Silver Slugger awards, earned three All-Star appearances and won three batting titles (for three different teams). Throw in his career .777 OPS (115 OPS+) and $12 million feels like a bargain. But if Arraez’s strengths are easy to see, so are his weaknesses.
Arraez seldom strikes out, but he also seldom walks (6.5 percent career walk rate). He sprays the ball all over the field, but he does not provide much pop (.413 career slugging percentage). With a 25th percentile sprint speed, Arraez won’t provide much value on the bases either.
Over the last two seasons, Arraez’s offensive production has been closer to average than excellent. After posting a .314 batting average and 107 OPS+ in 2024, Arraez finished with a .292 batting average and 99 OPS+ in ’25, his lowest marks in a full season in both fields.
Arraez’s underlying metrics paint a bleak story as well. Last season, Arraez posted career lows in average exit velocity (86.1 mph), expected batting average (.287), expected slugging percentage (.363) and hard-hit rate (16.7 percent). Perhaps new hitting coach Hunter Mense, who helped oversee one of baseball’s best offenses last season, could help Arraez tap into his All-Star form.
And while Arraez has been an excellent hitter with runners in scoring position in his career, he’s also coming off his worst season in that department as well. Over 172 plate appearances, Arraez hit .287 with a .696 OPS with runners in scoring position. From 2022-24, by contrast, Arraez hit .389 with a .916 OPS with runners in scoring position.
There’s also the defense to consider since Arraez will usurp Casey Schmitt as the team’s starting second baseman.
After improving the outfield defense by signing Harrison Bader, the Giants worsened their infield defense by adding Arraez. Since 2019, Arraez’s -60 outs above average, a stat that calculates range, are the fewest in baseball. At second base, a position that Arraez hasn’t played full-time since ’23, Arraez has been worth -35 outs above average. Assuming he isn’t traded, Schmitt will likely serve as a late-game defensive replacement in close games for Arraez on a regular basis.
Flanking Arraez at first base will likely be Rafael Devers, who is still learning the position after picking it up last season. From a defensive perspective, Arraez and Devers could be one of the worst right sides in baseball. That’s especially ominous given San Francisco’s pitching staff generates a ton of grounders. Ron Washington, the team’s new infield coach, will have his hands full.
Arraez has no shortage of both fans and detractors of his game. To the Giants, he’s someone whose singular strength outweigh his weaknesses.