It’s a dream batting average after all.
The Miami Marlins’ “hitting machine” Luis Arajes is inching away from a .400 batting average.
Araujo went 1-for-4 on Tuesday against the Cincinnati Reds at Great American Ball Park. His batting average dropped from .370 to .369 (158-for-428). It’s the first time this season that Arajuez’s batting average has dropped below .370.
The collapse of the 3.7s, which is considered the “base camp” for conquering the 4s, has effectively ended his dream. The last time Arajes was in the 4s was on June 25. Cincinnati had played 78 games.
He then broke 3-for-9 on July 1, and his batting average, which had been fluctuating between 3-for-8 and 3-for-10, was hovering around .370 when he went 0-for-1 and 0-for-4 in Cincinnati on Aug. 8 and 9, respectively.
With the heat came a dulling of his bat. He’s batting .323 in the second half, but is hitting .243 in nine games in August.
Arajuez, who started at second base for the second time on the day, reached on a grounder to shortstop with one out in the first inning. On a 2B2S pitch, he lunged at a 96-mph cutter from Cincinnati right-hander Graham Ashcraft on a six-pitch at-bat, but could only manage a grounder to shortstop. It was hit well toward center field, but Cincinnati shortstop Eli De La Cruz made a diving catch to end the threat.
In the third inning, Araez tried a Kraft cutter up the middle, but it was grounded to third base, and in the sixth inning, a Kraft cutter up the middle was grounded to shortstop.
Araez finally escaped a no-hitter in the eighth inning after Kraft went down, hitting a 92-mph body sinker to left off left-hander Sam Moll with two outs.
Major League Baseball’s website, MLB.com, has been tracking Arajuez’s batting average for the past three days. “If Arajuez’s batting average exceeds .380, we will re-publish this section,” MLB.com wrote in a notice.안전놀이터
The last player to hit .380 after Ted Williams in 1941 was George Brett in 1980, who stayed at .380 through his team’s 134th game. John Olerud in 1993 hit .440 through 107 games, Larry Walker in 1997 through 96 games, Tony Gwynn in 1997 through 92 games, and Norma Garciaparra in 2000 through 91 games.
Compared to those players, Araújo’s momentum was lost too early.
No Responses