Miami Marlins infielder Luis Arraez continued his pursuit of a .400 batting average season with a two-run home run on Saturday afternoon against the Pittsburgh Pirates, and capped it off with one of the great bat flips of the 2023 season.
Arraez clubbed an Osvaldo Bido pitch deep into the right field stands, and followed it by slowly walking up the first base line with the bat in his hand,
Then, just as he started to break into his home run trot he launched his bat high into the air.
Have a look.
Insane bat flip from Arraez pic.twitter.com/dGeVXAiUel
— Talkin’ Baseball (@TalkinBaseball_) June 24, 2023
That is only Arraez's third home run of the season, but it did keep his batting average for the season over the .400 mark.
No player has hit .400 in a full Major League Baseball season since Ted Williams did so during the 1941 season.
He is also trying to win the National League batting title after winning the American League batting crown last year as a member of the Minnesota Twins. The Twins traded him to Miami this past offseason. If he is able to accomplish that he would be the first player since 1901 to do it.
Perhaps even more impressive — and valuable — than Arraez's .400 average is the fact that he also has a .450 on-base percentage to also lead the league. It has been an outstanding season. Potentially historic.
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