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Thursday, October 06, 2022

Twins’ Luis Arraez tops Aaron Judge as AL batting champion

- Luis Arraez won the AL batting title, hitting a third-inning double after walking twice to finish the season at .316, and the Minnesota Twins rolled to a 10-1 victory over the Chicago White Sox on Wednesday.

Arraez was all but assured of topping the Yankees’ Aaron Judge for the batting crown when the day began. He removed any doubt by walking in his first two plate appearances and then hit a drive that barely cleared the glove of right fielder Gavin Sheets before he was lifted for a pinch-runner.

“It’s amazing,” Arraez said. “This was one of my goals. I’m living a dream right now. This is amazing for me because I worked hard for this.”

Judge, who sat out the Yankees’ season finale, batted .311 with an AL-record 62 homers and a league-leading 131 RBIs.

“I couldn’t sleep last night, just thinking and thinking about it,” Arraez said.

Arraez, 25, became the fifth Twin to win a batting title, joining Rod Carew (seven), Tony Oliva and Joe Mauer (three apiece) and Kirby Puckett (one). His .316 average is the lowest for an AL batting champion since Boston’s Carl Yastrzemski at .301 in 1968.

RoyalsRetro (AG#1F) Posted: October 06, 2022 at 01:03 PM | 63 comment(s) Login to Bookmark
Tags: aaron judge, luis arraez

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1. Darren

Posted: October 06, 2022 at 02:06 PM (#6099381)

“I couldn’t sleep last night, just thinking and thinking about it,” Arraez said.

Fun player and this is a really fun quote. Fun. Lots of fun.

2. Walt Davis Posted: October 06, 2022 at 02:47 PM (#6099393)

Arraez looks like an interesting story. He's a career 314 hitter but this is his first qualified season (at 25). By DRS he's been average at 2B and 3B and good at 1B. He never made a top 100 list. His K-rate is just 8.4% but he's not a wild swinger with a walk rate of 8.7%. He's at 10.4 WAR, 5.1 WAA, essentially a 4-WAR player in full-time play. He's got no power (ISO 096) so he's not an ideal 1B but 314/374/410 will play. Adjusted for era, his line is prime Ichiro. (The baserunning is very much NOT prime Ichiro.)

3. Cris E Posted: October 06, 2022 at 04:27 PM (#6099426)

He's been worth even more than that in a year where pretty much everyone got hurt at one point or another. In March it looked like he probably wasn't going to be the starter at any particular position, but he ended up playing 1b, 2b, 3b and dh while leading the team in games played and at bats.

4. Hombre Brotani

Posted: October 06, 2022 at 06:43 PM (#6099445)

... he ended up playing 1b, 2b, 3b and dh while leading the team in games played and at bats.

This is why he's awesome. You can move him where you need him from day to day and not lose anything, and he hits from anywhere.

5. ERROR---Jolly Old St. Nick

Posted: October 06, 2022 at 10:12 PM (#6099477)

... he ended up playing 1b, 2b, 3b and dh

Pretty impressive. That's 3 fewer defensive positions than Oswaldo Cabrera played in just 47 games. All that he lacked was 1B, C and P.

(No, I'm not saying Cabrera is more valuable than a batting champion. But for versatility he's hard to beat.)

6. Der-K's tired of these fruits from poisoned trees Posted: October 06, 2022 at 11:34 PM (#6099483)

Unnecessary comp, Andy?

7. MuttsIdolCochrane Posted: October 07, 2022 at 04:41 AM (#6099490)

Be real. He sat out games like a coward and backed in.

8. Ithaca2323 Posted: October 07, 2022 at 08:00 AM (#6099497)

Unnecessary comp, Andy?

It's like watching the Simpsons episode on Poochie:

"Every time Poochie's not on the screen, all the other characters should be looking around saying "Where's Poochie?"

If we're not talking about how all the Yankees are Very Special Boys, we're not doing it right

9. Jose is an Absurd Sultan Posted: October 07, 2022 at 08:02 AM (#6099498)

I'm with Darren, Arraez is just a fun player. More guys like him would be better.

10. Rally Posted: October 07, 2022 at 08:51 AM (#6099502)

Arraez looks like an interesting story. He's a career 314 hitter but this is his first qualified season (at 25). By DRS he's been average at 2B and 3B and good at 1B. He never made a top 100 list. His K-rate is just 8.4% but he's not a wild swinger with a walk rate of 8.7%. He's at 10.4 WAR, 5.1 WAA, essentially a 4-WAR player in full-time play. He's got no power (ISO 096) so he's not an ideal 1B but 314/374/410 will play. Adjusted for era, his line is prime Ichiro. (The baserunning is very much NOT prime Ichiro.)

With the Twins uniform, and the position, seems the best comp is Carew. Rod Carew without the speed.

I guess that could be Wade Boggs, but Boggs walked a lot more and was a good defensive 3B. Arraez is like Carew in that he can play 2B, but particularly good at it, and fits better at first.

11. jmurph Posted: October 07, 2022 at 08:58 AM (#6099503)

It's like watching the Simpsons episode on Poochie:

"Every time Poochie's not on the screen, all the other characters should be looking around saying "Where's Poochie?"

If we're not talking about how all the Yankees are Very Special Boys, we're not doing it right

Trying to figure out if there's a way we can also give Judge a batting title. Maybe the division crown? After all, division records have always been a big deal in baseball's lengthy history.

12. ERROR---Jolly Old St. Nick

Posted: October 07, 2022 at 09:02 AM (#6099504)

Trying to figure out if there's a way we can also give Judge a batting title.

Trying to figure out how Arraez can get the Twins into the LCS before he dies. (smile)

13. Jose is an Absurd Sultan Posted: October 07, 2022 at 09:30 AM (#6099509)

Not sure why an Oriole fan like Andy would bring up the Yankees.

14. Jose is an Absurd Sultan Posted: October 07, 2022 at 09:33 AM (#6099510)

With the Twins uniform, and the position, seems the best comp is Carew. Rod Carew without the speed.

That's a great call. Obviously not Carew but his was the first name in mind. How many singles hitting first basemen win a batting title? Grace didn't, Erstad didn't. That's just two names off the top of my head, I'm sure there are more guys like them but how many won batting titles? Billy Goodman was all over the diamond when he won his title.

15. cardsfanboy

Posted: October 07, 2022 at 09:45 AM (#6099512)

I was thinking Gregg Jeffries, but his average showed up a bit later in his career (first season over .300 was age 25... it was a .342 though) and he had a tad more power. (and he did have 42 stolen bases that year, but that was an outlier year)

16. cardsfanboy

Posted: October 07, 2022 at 09:47 AM (#6099514)

That's a great call. Obviously not Carew but his was the first name in mind. How many singles hitting first basemen win a batting title? Grace didn't, Erstad didn't. That's just two names off the top of my head, I'm sure there are more guys like them but how many won batting titles?

Keith Hernandez did, although I wouldn't say he was a single hitter as he led the league in doubles that year, but only had 11 hr. (Grace also had 51 doubles one year, so by singles hitting, I'm guessing you meant low hr hitters.... Erstad did have 25 one year though. (he was mostly an outfielder that year though)

17. cardsfanboy

Posted: October 07, 2022 at 09:55 AM (#6099515)

Going through the list of leader boards for average, Pete Runnels also makes the list as a low power hitting first baseman who won a batting title.

18. SoSH U at work Posted: October 07, 2022 at 10:07 AM (#6099517)

Pete was a singles hitting first baseman who won batting titles, though not concurrently.

In his first year at first, he was second in BA to the previously mentioned Hernandez.

19. crict Posted: October 07, 2022 at 10:12 AM (#6099519)

Hal Morris came very close to a batting title in 1991, and didn't have enough PA in 1990.

20. RoyalsRetro (AG#1F) Posted: October 07, 2022 at 10:42 AM (#6099528)

Jeff McNeil won the NL title, and hit only 9 HR. The last time both league batting titles were won by someone with HR in the single digits was 1989 when Kirby Puckett and Tony Gwynn won it (also 1988 with Boggs and Gwynn, 86 with Boggs and Raines, and 85 with Boggs and McGee).

21. JJ1986 Posted: October 07, 2022 at 10:47 AM (#6099529)

John Olerud won a batting title with 24 HR. But he hit a lot of doubles that year.

22. Misirlou cut his hair and moved to Rome Posted: October 07, 2022 at 11:13 AM (#6099539)

Pete was a singles hitting first baseman who won batting titles, though not concurrently.

In his first year at first, he was second in BA to the previously mentioned Hernandez.

Pete Rose I assume. Confusing because it follows a post about Pete Runnels.

Bill Buckner won a title with 10 HR, though he had 41 doubles.

23. SoSH U at work Posted: October 07, 2022 at 11:14 AM (#6099542)

Pete Rose I assume. Confusing because it follows a post about Pete Runnels.

Yes.

24. sunday silence (again) Posted: October 07, 2022 at 11:22 AM (#6099544)

Mickey Vernon. Did Hal Chase win a batting title?

25. sunday silence (again) Posted: October 07, 2022 at 11:22 AM (#6099545)

SNuffy Stirnweiss I think

26. stanmvp48 Posted: October 07, 2022 at 11:30 AM (#6099550)

"Trying to figure out if there's a way we can also give Judge a batting title."

Or we can cast this meaningless, contrived, obsolete statistic into the dustbin of history where it belongs

Babe Ruth only won one "batting title" . Who cares?

27. Misirlou cut his hair and moved to Rome Posted: October 07, 2022 at 11:37 AM (#6099554)

Ferris fain won 2 consecutive titles with 2 and 6 HR respectively.

28. Misirlou cut his hair and moved to Rome Posted: October 07, 2022 at 11:45 AM (#6099557)

Mickey Vernon.

he wasn't a home run hitter, but it's hard to describe a guy with 67 and 69 XBHs as a singles hitter. He slugged over .500 both times.

29. Misirlou cut his hair and moved to Rome Posted: October 07, 2022 at 11:57 AM (#6099561)

Lowest ISO for 1B batting champions since 1920:

Ferris Fain 1952 - .102
Rod Carew 1978 - .108
Ferris Fain 1952 - .127
Pete runnels 1962 - .130
Bill Buckner 1980 - .133
Phil Cavaretta 1945 - .145
Dale Alexander 1932 - .145
Mickey Vernon 1946 - .155
Lew Fonseca 1929 - .163
Keith Hernandez 1979 - .169

What is the upper bound of ISO in which one should not be considered a singles hitter?

30. Barry`s_Lazy_Boy Posted: October 07, 2022 at 11:57 AM (#6099562)

Carew is a great comp. Same franchise, both lefties, similar defensive profile, similar power profile. Arraez is a fun player, I'm glad he won the batting title.

31. Adam Starblind Posted: October 07, 2022 at 12:25 PM (#6099569)

Or we can cast this meaningless, contrived, obsolete statistic into the dustbin of history where it belongs

Babe Ruth only won one "batting title" . Who cares?

Imagine wasting precious minutes of your life coming onto this thread to post this comment.

32. stanmvp48 Posted: October 07, 2022 at 12:49 PM (#6099573)

Hey a statistic which makes Luis Arraez look better than Aaron Judge is obviously ridiculous. But sorry if my comment offends you

33. Biscuit_pants Posted: October 07, 2022 at 01:00 PM (#6099576)

Or we can cast this meaningless, contrived, obsolete statistic into the dustbin of history where it belongs

meaningless is subjective as is obsolete, but how is a batting title contrived?

Hey a statistic which makes Luis Arraez look better than Aaron Judge is obviously ridiculous. But sorry if my comment offends you

this sounds contrived

34. stanmvp48 Posted: October 07, 2022 at 01:04 PM (#6099578)

By removing walks from OBP as thought they did not happen; by reducing extra base hits to singles. There is no logical reason to do these things. That is why I meant by contrived

35. Biscuit_pants Posted: October 07, 2022 at 01:13 PM (#6099581)

By removing walks from OBP

they do not remove walks from OBP, OBP measures just that, OBP. Slugging captures extra base hits. Batting average measures how often a player puts the ball in play, that has it's own value and combined with other things gives you a picture of the type of hitter someone is.

Not contrived but measures something that you apparently do not care about, which is why I grant you the subjectiveness of you not liking it.

I as someone who likes the ball being put into play like players with high batting average. As a fan of my team winning I prefer someone getting on base in anyway possible, but as a fan of baseball walks are boring as hell. I hate walks unless they are helping my team.

36. cardsfanboy

Posted: October 07, 2022 at 02:02 PM (#6099599)

Hey a statistic which makes Luis Arraez look better than Aaron Judge is obviously ridiculous. But sorry if my comment offends you

It doesn't make him look better, it means exactly what it means. He's better at getting hits on a per at bat basis. I mean you could create a stat that is hits per plate appearance, but nobody really wants one like that.

There are hundreds of stats out there, most of them don't mean a player is better than another player if they do better in it, and same with batting average. It means what it means.

I mean I'm assuming you approve of Slugging, but it also removes walks from the equation.

37. Ithaca2323 Posted: October 07, 2022 at 02:21 PM (#6099610)

Hey a statistic which makes Luis Arraez look better than Aaron Judge is obviously ridiculous. But sorry if my comment offends you

It's not offensive. It's just pointless.

Would anyone argue that DiMaggio's hitting streak is ridiculous because it's just a thing we use to make him sound better than Ted Williams, (who was better offensively in 1941 than DiMaggio was during the actual streak?)

It just is what it is. Arraez won the batting title, Judge did not. That seems to really bother a whole lot of people on these boards, who have first tried to diminish the *way* it was done (Arreaz sat games out....waaaah!!!!) and apparently have now moved on to just saying "Who cares!!!!! Aaron Judge is still better!!!!"

Like, let it go. Judge has been the center of the baseball world for three solid months. He is going to win the MVP, probably unanimously. His team is going to the playoffs. We're allowed to celebrate the accomplishments of other players.

38. cardsfanboy

Posted: October 07, 2022 at 02:30 PM (#6099615)

He is going to win the MVP, probably unanimously.

That seems a stretch, at least the two Angel writers will probably vote for Ohtani, and I wouldn't be surprised to see him sweep the entire western division writers.

39. Ithaca2323 Posted: October 07, 2022 at 02:46 PM (#6099624)

That seems a stretch, at least the two Angel writers will probably vote for Ohtani, and I wouldn't be surprised to see him sweep the entire western division writers.

The first part isn't a stretch at all. The second part could be, which is why I qualified it with "probably", and not "And there is no chance, in the slightest, that he won't be unanimous"

40. cardsfanboy

Posted: October 07, 2022 at 02:55 PM (#6099630)

I agree on that I'm fairly certain that Judge is going to win the MVP. I didn't mean to imply I thought Ohtani would win, just saying I don't think that it's likely to be unanimous (of course I didn't think there was any way Mariano Rivera would go into the hof unanimously, and assumed Jeter would barring some petty statgeek--so my estimates on these aren't really spot on. )

41. The Gary DiSarcina Fan Club (JAHV) Posted: October 07, 2022 at 03:04 PM (#6099638)

Hey a statistic which makes Luis Arraez look better than Aaron Judge is obviously ridiculous.

There are many, many statistics that make certain players look better than Aaron Judge when those statistics are viewed without context. It's why when we're discussing them, we don't use them to say "Arraez is better than Judge." Arraez was, this season, better at getting on base when he hit the ball. I happen to like that metric, even if it doesn't provide a comprehensive picture of value.

42. Misirlou cut his hair and moved to Rome Posted: October 07, 2022 at 03:23 PM (#6099647)

Arraez was, this season, better at getting on base when he hit the ball. I happen to like that metric, even if it doesn't provide a comprehensive picture of value.

Pedant alert. Judge got on base .448 of the time when he hit the ball. Arraez did so .343 of the time.

43. The Gary DiSarcina Fan Club (JAHV) Posted: October 07, 2022 at 03:55 PM (#6099660)

Pedant alert. Judge got on base .448 of the time when he hit the ball. Arraez did so .343 of the time.

Sigh. Fair enough. Batting average is a good measure of how well a player can hit the ball where the fielders aren't. Arraez was slightly better at that than Judge this season. I like it.

44. Misirlou cut his hair and moved to Rome Posted: October 07, 2022 at 04:00 PM (#6099662)

I didn't make that post to pick on you, but to illustrate that there is no pithy way to describe batting average that is also accurate.

45. cardsfanboy

Posted: October 07, 2022 at 04:18 PM (#6099671)

I didn't make that post to pick on you, but to illustrate that there is no pithy way to describe batting average that is also accurate.

Person who gets on base the most frequent when they refuse to walk. :)

46. Booey Posted: October 07, 2022 at 04:31 PM (#6099685)

Kyle Schwarber hit more homers than Mike Trout, Shohei Ohtani, Mookie Betts, Paul Goldschmidt, Nolan Arenado, Manny Machado, Freddie Freeman, Jose Ramirez, and everyone else who isn't Aaron Judge. Are homeruns ridiculous too since this one stat makes Schwarber look better than all these far superior players?

47. SandyRiver Posted: October 07, 2022 at 04:39 PM (#6099692)

Pedant alert: "Hit the ball" includes homers. (BABIP does not.)

48. Adam Starblind Posted: October 07, 2022 at 05:04 PM (#6099712)

Hey a statistic which makes Luis Arraez look better than Aaron Judge is obviously ridiculous. But sorry if my comment offends you

Your comment didn't offend me. It made me sad for you.

49. SoSH U at work Posted: October 07, 2022 at 05:07 PM (#6099719)

Pedant alert: "Hit the ball" includes homers. (BABIP does not.)

But BA also includes homers. I don't see any of these points that wouldn't include the HRs.

50. cardsfanboy

Posted: October 07, 2022 at 05:39 PM (#6099767)

But BA also includes homers. I don't see any of these points that wouldn't include the HRs

I think the poster was just clarifying that they weren't using babip.

51. Infinite Yost (Voxter)

Posted: October 07, 2022 at 07:09 PM (#6099795)

By removing walks from OBP as thought they did not happen; by reducing extra base hits to singles. There is no logical reason to do these things. That is why I meant by contrived

Hey, you're the first person ever to think of this!

Give me a ring when you get back from 2001.

52. Moeball Posted: October 08, 2022 at 11:41 PM (#6100068)

Just a thought - with a week or so left in the season Judge was on top with a .317 batting average.

Had he sat he would have preserved the Triple Crown

53. TomH Posted: October 09, 2022 at 12:00 AM (#6100094)

(unless Arraez then *didn't* sit *and* hit well....)

54. Booey Posted: October 09, 2022 at 12:01 AM (#6100095)

#52 - But then he wouldn't have hit 62 homers (he had 60 at the time). YMMV on which milestone is cooler or more significant.

Edit: plus what #53 said. Arraez likely doesn't sit those games if he was trailing in the batting race and Judge had already deactivated himself.

55. Eric J can SABER all he wants to Posted: October 09, 2022 at 09:20 AM (#6100116)

Person who gets on base the most frequent when they refuse to walk. :)

Or get hit by pitch, or hit sacrifice flies, or reach on an error. But some of these things are treated differently than others.

Which isn't to say that AVG is worthless, just weird.

56. Misirlou cut his hair and moved to Rome Posted: October 09, 2022 at 10:26 AM (#6100119)

Or get hit by pitch, or hit sacrifice flies, or reach on an error.

Or catcher's interference, or a dropped third strike, or a fielder's choice.

57. SoSH U at work Posted: October 09, 2022 at 10:35 AM (#6100121)

I think the simplest description is the frequency of getting a hit against the number of times you attempted to or had an opportunity to. That covers all balls in play, strikeouts swinging and strikeouts looking, while excluding the times your PA ended without an opportunity (walks, HBPs, catcher’s interference). It still doesn’t cover sac flies, but sac flies are nonsensical anyway).

58. Jose is an Absurd Sultan Posted: October 09, 2022 at 11:13 AM (#6100124)

Arraez also had more doubles and triples than Judge. Neither those things nor the better batting average is making anyone on planet earth up to and including Arraez' mother say that he was better than Aaron Judge.

59. Adam Starblind Posted: October 09, 2022 at 11:21 AM (#6100125)

The issue here I think is how closely tied BA is to the preferred aesthetic of the game. We could use a few more Gwynns and Carews and Molitors and lesser versions thereof to make the game more exciting. It’s got nothing to do with analytics.

60. ERROR---Jolly Old St. Nick

Posted: October 09, 2022 at 11:47 AM (#6100126)

No runs, 11 hits and 39 strikeouts in the 14.5 innings before Gonzales finally put the Rays out of their misery tells us all we need to know about the aesthetics of way too many of today's games.

This is the 5th straight year that strikeouts have outnumbered hits, and it isn't helped by umpires who persist in expanding the strike zone beyond its rule book standard,s without any accountability other than a vague hint about the possibility of robo-umps.

61. Jobu is silent on the changeup Posted: October 10, 2022 at 08:07 AM (#6100234)

Arraez started 10 games in the last 2 weeks. The "why is anybody acknowledging anything non-Yankee" weirdos need to find another talking point.

62. ERROR---Jolly Old St. Nick

Posted: October 10, 2022 at 09:32 AM (#6100242)

Maybe the Mets could've used Arraez. They set a record last night by having the fewest hits (1) of any team that played in any of the 127 win-or-go-home games in MLB history.

63. Mellow Mouse, Benevolent Space Tyrant Posted: October 10, 2022 at 10:11 AM (#6100247)

Arraez started 10 games in the last 2 weeks. The "why is anybody acknowledging anything non-Yankee" weirdos need to find another talking point.

For the record, his hamstrings were a mess by the end of the season, and without the batting title race, there is a good chance he just would have sat out way more games or just hit the IL. He wanted to win the batting title race and wanted to do it the right way. He is a good and fun player.

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Twins’ Luis Arraez tops Aaron Judge as AL batting champion

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