{"id":554310,"date":"2026-03-30T14:23:23","date_gmt":"2026-03-30T14:23:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/554310\/"},"modified":"2026-03-30T14:23:23","modified_gmt":"2026-03-30T14:23:23","slug":"i-felt-it-in-my-heart","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/554310\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018I felt it in my heart\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

Want more ways to catch up on the latest in Bay Area sports? Sign up for the Section 415 email newsletter here<\/a> and subscribe to the \u201cSection 415″ podcast <\/a>wherever you listen<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Shortly after Luis Arr\u00e1ez began playing for the Padres, in May of 2024, he made sure to walk through Petco Park, past the outfield wall, and onto a public terrace to check out a gorgeous 9\u00bd-foot statue depicting the likeness of one of the greatest hitters who ever lived.<\/p>\n

\u201cI felt it in my heart,\u201d Arr\u00e1ez said. \u201cMy hair was coming up from my arms. Wow.\u201d<\/p>\n

It was the Tony Gwynn statue, memorializing \u201cMr. Padre,\u201d the Hall of Famer to whom Arr\u00e1ez has been compared because of his high batting averages and elite bat-to-ball skills.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was a pretty cool moment,\u201d said Gwynn\u2019s son, Tony Gwynn Jr., a Padres broadcaster and former big-league outfielder. \u201cHe just wanted to show respect to my pops.\u201d<\/p>\n

Arr\u00e1ez, now the Giants\u2019 second baseman, will return to San Diego for a three-game series beginning Monday night. The Padres reached the playoffs in both of Arr\u00e1ez\u2019s seasons, and his hope is to return to October baseball this year, though the Giants dug themselves an early 0-3 hole and scored just one run in their opening series with the Yankees.<\/p>\n

Gwynn\u2019s legacy serves as inspiration to the 28-year-old Arr\u00e1ez, who has won three batting titles and is a .317 career hitter, tops among active players. Gwynn was at another level with eight batting crowns and a .338 lifetime average.<\/p>\n

That Arr\u00e1ez was accompanied by Gwynn Jr. the day he visited the statue made the experience further heartwarming.<\/p>\n

\u201cTony Gwynn is a symbol for a lot of young players throughout history,\u201d Arr\u00e1ez said. \u201cHe tried to hit the ball to the middle, put the ball in play. He didn\u2019t strike out. He helped a lot of people. Not only inside of baseball, but he did a lot of things outside of baseball. He tried to be a good person. He tried to be a leader. He\u2019s really a good example for me.\u201d<\/p>\n

When relayed Arr\u00e1ez\u2019s comment, Gwynn Jr. said, \u201cNot only has my dad been a good example for him, but Luis has been a good example for the next generation of hitters coming up.<\/p>\n

\u201cI enjoy that young kids who watch him know they don\u2019t have to be this one specific kind of hitter. You can be successful at the major-league level and not be the guy who\u2019s filling up the slug, the way the top dogs do. When you get into the construction of a lineup, pitchers will tell you if a lot of the guys are the same, it\u2019s an easier lineup to pitch to compared with when you get different kinds of guys in the lineup.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a reason Giants president of baseball operations Buster Posey signed Arr\u00e1ez late in the offseason to a one-year, $12 million contract. The Giants have high-strikeout hitters including Willy Adames \u2013 his 179 K\u2019s were more than any other Giant in history besides Bobby Bonds (189 in 1970, 187 in 1969) \u2013 and Rafael Devers, whose 192 combined K\u2019s in Boston and San Francisco were a career high.<\/p>\n

\u201cSome of it is the current personnel that we have, right?\u201d Posey said. \u201cI mean, we\u2019ve got some guys that already have some legit power, and they\u2019re going to have some swing and miss. I think Arr\u00e1ez is a really good fit for us because he does balance out some of those other profiles.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"ALuis Arr\u00e1ez was one of only two Giants to record three hits in the team\u2019s opening series against the Yankees. | Source: Brandon Vallance\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

Despite the fact Arr\u00e1ez hits for a high average and posted a minuscule strikeout rate last season (a mere 3.1%, lowest in the majors since Gwynn in 1995), he remains a polarizing figure in the analytics community and among some front offices. He doesn\u2019t have much speed or power or defensive range (the Padres played him mostly at first base), and his bat speed, hard-hit rate, exit velocities, and launch angles all rank extremely low. Plus he doesn\u2019t walk a lot.<\/p>\n

All Arr\u00e1ez does is rack up hits, and he\u2019s even better with runners in scoring position, as his career .349 average attests.<\/p>\n

2 days ago<\/p>\n

\"A<\/a><\/p>\n

5 days ago<\/p>\n

\"A<\/a><\/p>\n

Friday, Mar. 20<\/p>\n

\"A<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cWe made a big trade to get him, and he played really well for us,\u201d said Padres president of baseball operations A.J. Preller, who dealt four prospects to the Marlins for Arr\u00e1ez. \u201cWe saw the value in Luis. It\u2019s hard to be elite in any one thing in baseball, and you\u2019re talking about one of the best pure hitters. It\u2019s also the competitive spirit, the fight, and what that brings to a team. It\u2019s real.\u201d<\/p>\n

Arr\u00e1ez played his first four seasons in Minnesota, won his first batting title in 2022, and got tutored along the way by another Hall of Fame hitter known for his mastery at the plate, seven-time batting champ Rod Carew.<\/p>\n

With lessons learned from Carew, who had shared stories of Gwynn, Arr\u00e1ez led the National League in hitting three straight years, winning his second title in 2023 as a Marlin and another in\u00a02024 as both a Marlin and Padre (he was traded to San Diego in early May).<\/p>\n

\"TwoArr\u00e1ez is presented the Tony Gwynn National League batting champion trophy in March, 2025. | Source: Orlando Ramirez\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

Arr\u00e1ez said Carew is \u201clike a grandfather to me. He taught me a lot of good things. To hit the ball the other way. To bunt if the third baseman gives you a free base hit. To eliminate the strikeout. And to not try to hit homers. He said homers will come but just find the barrel and run the bases.\u201d<\/p>\n

Unfortunately, Arr\u00e1ez never met Gwynn, who died in 2014, five years before Arr\u00e1ez broke into the majors, but he realizes Gwynn\u2019s hitting principles were similar to Carew\u2019s. Make solid contact, go to all fields, and hit \u2019em where they ain\u2019t.<\/p>\n

Arr\u00e1ez led the league in hits the past two years but batted a career-low .292 in 2025 (he still would\u2019ve led all Giants hitters, by far), saying the aftereffects of a concussion he sustained last April caused his numbers to drop. There\u2019s no assurance he\u2019ll hit .300 in San Francisco, a difficult place to swing a bat with the cold and wind, especially for lefties. The Giants have had just two West Coast batting champs, Barry Bonds and Posey.<\/p>\n

Arr\u00e1ez wouldn\u2019t mind joining the club.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s a lot of space in the outfield,\u201d he said. \u201cIf I hit .300, I\u2019m going to help the team win.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"AArr\u00e1ez considers Tony Gwynn and Rod Carew idols and built his approach at the plate by studying how they hit. | Source: Courtesy of Matt Thomas\/San Diego Padres<\/p>\n

In nearly every at-bat, Arr\u00e1ez takes the first pitch to map out the pitcher and doesn\u2019t mind two-strike counts. In fact, he embraces them and trusts himself to make contact on every swing. He doesn\u2019t choke up at the plate but does in the on-deck circle and in batting practice because he practices with a heavier bat.<\/p>\n

Through it all, Arr\u00e1ez will continue to honor the likes of Gwynn and Carew by trying to live up to their superb skillsets. In fact, in Arr\u00e1ez\u2019s first five seasons through 2023, he was on a Gwynn-like trajectory \u2013 he hit .326 (identical to Gwynn\u2019s mark through five seasons) with a .427 slugging percentage (same as Gwynn\u2019s) and .806 OPS (Gwynn\u2019s was .804).<\/p>\n

On the other hand, Gwynn already was a Gold Glover by his fifth season with far more steals and triples and a much higher WAR. Plus, Gwynn\u2019s average continued to soar after that. He hit .342 the rest of his career, all the way to 3,141 hits and a front-row seat in Cooperstown.<\/p>\n

Arr\u00e1ez is familiar with the accomplishments, having researched Gwynn\u2019s career and approach at the plate and spending time with his son including that memorable day they visited the statue together.<\/p>\n

\u201cI just wanted to go out there and meet Tony Gwynn,\u201d Arr\u00e1ez said. \u201cHe made so much history with the trophies, the Gold Gloves, the batting titles. It\u2019s nice to know we have a similar game. Not the same. I don\u2019t want to say the same. But I try to do the things he did.\u201d<\/p>\n

Naturally, Arr\u00e1ez\u2019s story is appreciated by the younger Gwynn.<\/p>\n

\u201cPersonally, I\u2019m sad to see him go,\u201d he said. \u201cI loved to watch him on a daily basis. He\u2019s a throwback. Not a lot of guys in the league like him. I think he\u2019ll do great in San Francisco.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Want more ways to catch up on the latest in Bay Area sports? Sign up for the Section…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":554311,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[65],"tags":[12402,363,2329,99,130744],"class_list":{"0":"post-554310","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-mlb","8":"tag-buster-posey","9":"tag-mlb","10":"tag-san-francisco-giants","11":"tag-sports","12":"tag-tony-vitello"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/554310","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=554310"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/554310\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/554311"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=554310"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=554310"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=554310"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}