'Watch out': Arraez arrives in Padres camp healthy, rejuvenated

PEORIA, Ariz. -- Fresh off surgery to repair a torn ligament in his left thumb -- and wholly unable to swing a bat -- Luis Arraez found himself with more downtime than usual this winter.

So, he tried something new.

"I took a vacation for the first time in my life,” Arraez said.

For a week in December, Arraez and his wife left the kids back home in Miami. They flew to Paris. They saw the Eiffel Tower. They ate a dinner he said was way too expensive. It was starkly different from Arraez’s typical offseason routine.

“I always feel like I need to work,” he said. “This year, I needed to open my mind, do something different.”

And then? Back home, back to that routine. Arraez had begun his ramp-up immediately after that surgery, focusing on strengthening his legs. By mid-January, he resumed swinging.

Most notably, Arraez said he feels no effects of the injury that bothered him throughout last summer. After a couple days of live batting practice, he’s starting to dream on what that might mean.

"I got jammed yesterday, and I didn't feel anything," Arraez said. "That's a good sign. ... I feel like I got a new thumb."

Last season, as Arraez rolled to a third straight batting title, he consistently downplayed the nature of that injury. On Wednesday, he finally acknowledged its impact. The injury had altered his swing in a semi-significant way. If the thumb barked each time he got jammed, it negated his ability to work inside the baseball.

"It affected me a lot, because I use my hands a lot," Arraez said. "I stay inside-out. But I couldn't use it last year. This year … I don't feel anything in my thumb. Good sign. I think it's a lot of problems [for] the pitchers this year."

Arraez, of course, is a unique hitter with unique ability. He doesn’t hit for power. He doesn’t walk much. But he sprays line drives and finds holes in opposing defenses like no one else.

That skill set has sparked plenty of debate, but there’s not much debate about this: Arraez at his best is a very valuable player.

Last year, Arraez was a .314 hitter with a .738 OPS. Feel free to debate the merits of that production, but those numbers are not Arraez’s best. The year before, a healthier Arraez batted .354 with an .861 OPS. He envisions more where that came from.

“A lot of good things coming,” Arraez said. “If I'm healthy, I can do a lot of good things.”

The Padres, meanwhile, continue to extoll the merits of Arraez’s 2024 season after they traded for him in early May. Even if it wasn’t quite the best version of Arraez, he still made an impact atop the lineup.

“How he won a batting title basically without a thumb for the last six weeks was beyond impressive,” said Padres manager Mike Shildt. “To compete with that kind of physical ailment -- and compete well, still lead us into the playoffs -- it’s very, very impressive. A lot of respect. … Now, he looks healthy. Watch out.”

When Arraez secured last year’s batting title -- his third with three different teams -- Shildt joked that he’d like to see Arraez reel off a few more without switching uniforms. It was a light-hearted comment as the team celebrated Arraez’s accomplishment.

Then, Arraez spent the winter being mentioned in trade rumors. Maybe not to the extent he’d been mentioned in the past -- and not to the level of, say, Dylan Cease or Robert Suarez. But a trade seemed possible.

“I don't pay attention to that,” Arraez said. “ ... They can talk about trade, but I'm still here. I've got this beautiful uniform. I feel good here. I'm here to play baseball [and] try to win a World Series.”

The driving force behind those rumors is the fact that Arraez is entering his final season before free agency, set to make $14 million. Running in contrast to those rumors, however, is the possibility of an extension to keep Arraez in San Diego.

Per all parties, that discussion has not been formally broached -- but that doesn’t mean it can’t still be broached. Arraez has let the club know he’s open to the idea. The feeling seems mutual.

“Luis knows we value him a ton -- we, obviously, made a big trade for him,” said general manager A.J. Preller. “He knows what we think about him. He knows we’d love to have him here. … We’ll see how it plays out.”