JUPITER, Fla. — It didn’t take long for Luis Arraez to feel comfortable in the Miami Marlins’ clubhouse.
And it didn’t take long for players to feel comfortable around Arraez.
The Marlins acquired the 25-year-old Venezuelan and reigning American League batting champion primarily for his bat to provide more contact to a lineup that desperately needed improvement.
But Arraez also brings an upbeat vibe to the Marlins’ roster in addition to one of the steadiest bats in Major League Baseball.
“That’s me,” Arraez said Tuesday. “I’ve got a lot of energy. I’m coming here to give energy to my teammates and I’m here to have fun with the guys and win a lot of games.”
Added manager Skip Schumaker: “It’s infectious. He brings the energy every single day. You talk to the guys in Minnesota about who he is as a player. As a coach, you want to be able to pull back and not have to push guys. That’s the guy that you have to pull back because he just wants it so bad. Having more guys like him is really good for the Miami Marlins. I do think that you’ll see more and more guys gravitating toward him because he’ll end up being one of the leaders in the clubhouse.”
And fellow high-energy teammate Jazz Chisholm Jr.: “He brings a great vibe. He’s always happy. He’s always smiling. He wants to have fun. He brings that very uppity personality like I have. I love it.”
And even the generally low-key Braxton Garrett, who faced Arraez in a live batting practice session on Monday: “The guy is such a great hitter. He has such quick hands. He’s also just such a good guy. He doesn’t know me from anywhere. I’ve never met him and he talks to me like we’ve known each other for months.”
That type of persona does wonders for a clubhouse, especially one that had a slew of turnover this offseason in an attempt to get to playoff contention after going 69-93 last season.
And it only amplifies the value the Marlins hope Arraez can bring to the club.
Miami acquired Arraez from the Minnesota Twins on Jan. 20 in exchange for right-handed pitcher Pablo Lopez, infielder prospect Jose Salas and outfielder prospect Byron Chourio.
He provides the Marlins a stable, table setting bat at the top of the lineup who is under team control for three years.
Arraez is coming off a season in which he won the AL batting title with a .316 average to go along with a .795 OPS, 49 RBI, 31 doubles, eight home runs and 88 runs scored over 144 games.
For his career, Arraez has a .314 batting average with a .784 OPS, 77 doubles, 14 home runs, 132 RBI and 216 runs scored in 389 games over four seasons.
He is known for his knack to make contact more so than the ability to hit for power.
He has struck out in just 8.3 percent of his career plate appearances and, according to Statcast, has made contact on 93.3 percent of balls he swings at inside the strike zone (league average is 82 percent) and 85 percent of balls he swings at outside the strike zone (league average is 58.3 percent).
“I just try to put the ball in play every time,” Arraez said.
That is apparent even in the early days of spring training. As is his willingness to be challenged.
“I love when the pitcher attacks me,” Arraez said. “They want to strike out me and I hate strikeouts. I just go out there and hit some balls.”
He hit line drives in three consecutive at-bats during live batting practice on Tuesday.
“That wasn’t shocking,” Schumaker said. “It’s kind of what we saw all year last year.”
And it’s what the Marlins want to see this year as he was one of the key additions — along with Jean Segura — to help bolster a Miami offense that finished last season among the bottom 10 in baseball in just about every key offensive category.
The combination of Segura and Arraez along with the power potential from the group of Chisholm, Avisail Garcia, Jorge Soler and Garrett Cooper — barring health for all of them, of course — gives the Marlins a deeper lineup on paper.
“I enjoy getting on base,” Arraez said, “especially when I get a couple hits and then guys like Soler and Avi can hit homers and I score easily.”
And Arraez isn’t thinking too much about the tougher starting pitchers he will face in the National League East, which had three teams reach the playoffs and includes the likes of Justin Verlander and Max Scherzer on the Mets, Zack Wheeler and Aaron Nola on the Phillies, and Max Fried on the Braves.
“It’s not easy. Baseball is hard. Everybody knows,” Arraez said, “but I think it’s simple: They throw the same ball. They throw hard. Everybody throws hard right now. I just need to come here to stay together with my teammates.”
News notes
— Schumaker said Garrett is scheduled to start the Marlins’ Grapefruit League opener on Saturday against the New York Mets in Port St. Lucie. The manager also added Garrett will likely experiment with using the PitchCom system to call his own pitches this season.
— Chisholm said he expects to play in his first spring game on Sunday against the St. Louis Cardinals.
— Right-handed pitcher Huascar Brazoban, who is dealing with visa issues, remains the only player absent from camp.
