Luis Arraez Emerges as Rookie Sensation with Martin’s Help

When Martín Pérez calls his Minnesota Twins teammate Luis Arraez “my guy,” it’s more than a throwaway reference to someone he likes. Pérez was one of the first to notice Arraez’s extraordinary knack for putting a bat to a baseball, at an academy in their native Venezuela when Arraez was 15.

Pérez himself attended the academy, run by his agent Felix Olivo Ludert and the OL Baseball Group, before signing with the Texas Rangers. Pérez stopped by to work out over the winter of 2012-13, after his rookie season, when he noticed this quiet, skinny kid spraying line drives all over the place.

“The one thing I always remember, he could always hit the ball,” Pérez said. “When I saw him, I knew he could play baseball, because he was smart and he could hit the ball.”

Pérez introduced himself and quickly became a mentor for Arraez.

“When we met, I didn’t even know he was in the big leagues,” Arraez said. “We didn’t even talk about baseball. We got to know each other on a personal level, because he pitched for Magallanes (in the Venezuelan Winter League). That was about it.”

Now, Pérez and Arraez are teammates as well as good friends. Pérez left the Rangers last winter in free agency to join the Twins, while Arraez (pronounced ah-RIZE), who signed with the Twins as a 17-year-old for a modest $40,000 bonus, progressed through the farm system until being called up in mid-May.

Pérez leases a two-bedroom apartment in the Twin Cities, and he let Arraez crash in the spare bedroom. That helped Arraez, 22, acclimate quickly. He hit .375 in his first two weeks in the big leagues before returning to Class AAA Rochester when the Twins activated Nelson Cruz (sore left wrist) from the injured list.

Recalled June 18, Arraez moved back in with Pérez for about a month until he found his own place. And he continued to hit. Arraez lacks the at-bats to qualify for the American League batting title, but his .343 average with six games left in the season is higher than any qualifier. He has been at his best in September, batting .377 with four 3-hit games.

Twins assistant hitting coach Rudy Hernandez calls him “Tony Gwynn,” high praise for a left handed-batting singles hitter who seldom strikes out. Arraez’s ability to hit a middle-in pitch hard the other way makes him a particularly tough out. In an era of uppercut swings and soaring strikeout rates, Arraez makes contact on 92.9% of his swings per FanGraphs.com, the best of anyone in baseball with at least 100 plate appearances.

The Mets and hard-throwing reliever Edwin Díaz discovered this July 16 at Target Field, when Arraez came off the bench to pinch-hit for an injured Jonathan Schoop with an 0-2 count. Arraez saw nine pitches, fouled off five — the first four thrown between 98 and 99.8 mph — and worked a full-count walk.

“That was a tremendous at-bat that he had,” Diaz said that night. “I tip my hat to him.”

Arraez has hit so well that the Twins may let Schoop walk in free agency and give Arraez the second base job for 2020. For now, Arraez shuttles among second, third and left field.

“He’s a 22-year-old guy who’s been in the big leagues a matter of months, and we’re shocked when he strikes out,” said Twins manager Rocco Baldelli. “Just think about that for a second. That’s nuts. Then he goes back and throws another 20 at-bats up there (without striking out). You almost say, ‘I can’t believe what I’m watching’. But now I completely believe what I’m watching.”

Years ago, Pérez knew Arraez was capable of this. That’s why he kept in touch through the years, by phone and text.

“I talked to him about a lot of things,” Pérez said. “I told him, ‘It’s not going to be easy after you sign, it’s going to be harder. You’ve got to go to the U.S., you don’t speak the language, that kind of stuff.’

“I always told him, when he gets (to the majors), he’s got to prepare himself to play every night. I’ve been here a long time. I’ve seen a lot of guys with amazing talent, and they’re not playing any more in the big leagues because they think they have the talent but don’t like to work with the team, or do early work. If you want to be better, you have to work outside, do extra work or early work. That’s going to make you better. Don’t say, `OK, I’m good because I got three hits last night.’ They don’t pay us for what we did last night. We’ve got to get ready for today.”

So every day Arraez meets early with Hernandez in the indoor cage, hitting off a tee, then doing flip drills with a weighted bat. On the days infield coach Tony Diaz hits grounders before batting practice, Arraez works on that too.

“I’ve shared a lot of moments with (Pérez),” Arraez said. “He’s teaching me a lot. Even times when he takes me out to dinner and things like that, he helps a lot.”

Still, as the Twins’ “Bomba Squad” and the Yankees battle for the MLB single-season home run record, at times Arraez swings too hard trying to join in. His three homers with the Twins ties his career best at any level. That’s when Perez and Hernandez remind Arraez to stick to his strength.

“He’s more of a line-drive guy, and he tries to keep that in mind the whole time,” Hernandez said. “Later on, we want to keep working on the inside pitch, trying to get extension inside. Then the home runs are going to come. But right now, just keep doing what you’re doing. Stay in the middle of the field, get your line drives. Don’t worry about homers right now.”

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