Luis Arráez Opens Up About 2025 Struggles-and the Padres Might Not Love What He Had to Say
Luis Arráez has always been a bit of an anomaly in today’s game-a throwback hitter in an era of launch angles and exit velocity. But after a down year in 2025, the San Diego Padres decided it was time to move on. And now, with Arráez settling into his new spring training digs with the San Francisco Giants, he's shedding light on what went wrong last season-and reopening a few wounds in the process.
Let’s rewind. Arráez, a three-time batting champion, was expected to command a multi-year deal on the open market.
That didn’t happen. Instead, he lingered on the board through the first two waves of free agency before landing a one-year, $12 million deal with the division-rival Giants.
For a hitter with his résumé, that’s a steep fall from expectations.
So what happened?
The numbers tell part of the story. Arráez hit .354 with the Marlins in 2023-vintage stuff.
But that average dipped to .314 in 2024 across time with Miami and San Diego, and then dropped again to .292 in 2025. That’s still solid by league standards, but for a player whose entire game hinges on elite contact, it was a clear step back.
And according to Arráez, there’s a reason for that.
Speaking from the Giants’ spring training facility in Scottsdale, Arizona, Arráez opened up about a concussion he sustained early in the 2025 season. The injury came after a collision with Astros first baseman Mauricio Dubón, and it sidelined him for a stint on the seven-day concussion list. Arráez didn’t mince words-he believes that injury played a major role in his decline, and he made it clear he won’t be changing his approach at the plate moving forward.
That’s a bold statement from a player who’s built his career on doing things his way. Arráez doesn’t chase pitches.
He rarely strikes out. He puts the ball in play and forces pitchers to work.
During his time with the Padres, those traits gave San Diego a steady presence at the top of the lineup-someone who could grind out at-bats and keep the offense moving.
But as valuable as those contact skills are, they weren’t enough to offset the rest of the package. Arráez’s defense was below average, his baserunning lacked impact, and he didn’t provide much in the way of power. In a Padres lineup that needed more dynamic production across the board, that limited profile became harder to justify-especially as the batting average dipped.
So the Padres let him walk. And now he’s with the Giants, a team the Padres will see four times this season in what’s shaping up to be a tightly contested playoff race. Arráez’s comments about his injury-and his refusal to alter his fundamentals-are sure to add a little extra juice to those matchups.
There’s history here now. And while Arráez may be wearing a different uniform, his story is still very much tied to San Diego.
If he bounces back in 2026, the Padres might find themselves wondering what could’ve been. If he doesn’t, they’ll feel validated in their decision.
Either way, the stage is set. And you can bet those head-to-head showdowns between the Padres and Giants just got a little more personal.