The numbers behind Arraez's historic strikeoutless streak

This story was excerpted from AJ Cassavell’s Padres Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

SAN DIEGO -- "Everybody hates strikeouts," Luis Arraez says.

That’s true, I counter, but surely you hate them more than anybody else -- right? (Arraez hasn’t struck out in a calendar month, after all.)

"Everybody hates strikeouts," he repeats, then finally concedes my point just a little bit. "But especially me."

Even by his own lofty standards, Arraez is on quite a run. He hasn't punched out since Aug. 10 at Miami. He's done so just three times since July 4.

With his three-hit night on Saturday against the Giants, Arraez moved past Albert Pujols for the longest single-season streak of plate appearances without a strikeout in the past 20 seasons. He's now at 115 PAs. (Mookie Betts went 129 plate appearances across two seasons from 2016-17 -- although he did punch out during the '16 postseason.)

Next up on the single-season list is Juan Pierre, who went 147 plate appearances between strikeouts during the 2004 season. The Padres’ all-time mark, naturally, is held by Tony Gwynn, who didn't punch over a 170-PA span in 1995.

In Gwynn-like fashion, there's no hitter in baseball more comfortable hitting with two strikes than Arraez right now. He is batting .279 this season in two-strike counts, over 100 points higher than the Major League average (.168). It’s the second-best mark in the Majors among players with 100 such plate appearances. (The Mets' Jose Iglesias sits first at .289, though in 112 PAs compared to Arraez's 267.)

So it's not like Arraez is hacking early in the count to avoid strikeouts. In fact, he ranks 14th in the Majors in first-pitch take percentage (among the 259 hitters with at least 300 plate appearances).

Arraez is so comfortable hitting with two strikes that he'll often predetermine a take on strike one, just so he can see what the opposing pitcher has.

For instance, Logan Webb recently began throwing his cutter a bit more frequently. Arraez had seen it on video, but he wanted to see it firsthand before swinging at it. So he was first-pitch taking in each of his first two at-bats on Saturday.

After he'd seen a few cutters in those at-bats, he was comfortable enough swinging first pitch in his third at-bat against Webb -- a cutter that Arraez laced to center for an RBI single.

It's a calculated gamble. No hitter wants to fall behind in the count. But few are as successful at dealing with that challenge as Arraez.

"I always take first pitch, because I trust myself," Arraez said. "It doesn't matter for me if I have two strikes. I just want to see some pitches."

Arraez has been a seamless fit with San Diego since he was acquired from Miami on May 4. The Padres needed a lefty to balance their lineup. They needed an on-base threat to hit at the top of it. Who better?

Now, Arraez leads the National League in hitting with a .315 average between the Marlins and Padres this year. He could be on his way to a third consecutive batting title with a third team.

After a second consecutive three-hit game on Sunday, Arraez is batting .320 in 102 games with San Diego. In the divisional era (since 1969), the hits record for any player after moving to a new team midseason is 167 -- set by Frank Taveras after moving from the Pirates to the Mets in '79. Arraez has 140 hits as a Padre -- meaning he has 17 games to notch 28 more.

“It’s a tremendous weapon,” Padres manager Mike Shildt said of his leadoff man. “When the game starts, you’re in for a battle -- right from the get-go and then every time he comes up. But that’s pretty much our whole lineup. We don’t strike out a lot. It’s relentless at-bats. It’s tough, competitive at-bats. And Luis sets the tone for everybody. He’s a tremendous talent.”

Indeed, Arraez has become the Padres’ tone-setter. As a team, they boast the lowest strikeout rate in the Majors (17.3 percent), so perhaps naturally, they open the game with the player who boasts the lowest individual strikeout rate in the league (4.3).

Although Arraez has seemingly taken that to a new level recently, he’s adamant that he’s the same hitter he ever was.

"I haven't changed," Arraez said. "I just go up there and try to hit the ball."

And no one does it better.