PHOENIX -- Luis Arraez knows how to make an entrance.

The newest Padre had barely unpacked his gear at Chase Field after arriving from the airport about an hour before batting leadoff against the D-backs on Saturday evening. By the time the Padres completed a 13-1 victory, Arraez had four hits, two runs, a double and an RBI.

“When I hit my first base hit, my double, I said, ‘Here we go. This is amazing. This is amazing.’ That was one of my dreams,” Arraez said. “I’m living my dream right now.”

• Analyzing the Arraez trade from all sides

Arraez finished 4-for-6, becoming the first player to make his Padres debut with a four-hit game. The victory, which featured home runs by Jurickson Profar and Ha-Seong Kim, was San Diego’s fourth in a row.

“Could not have planned it much better,” manager Mike Shildt said. “He gets [jersey] No. 4, and he goes out and gets four knocks. I’ve seen him in the league before, obviously, but it’s pretty special to see him up close. Great to have him on our side.”

When word came in that Arraez was heading to the Padres in a trade with the Marlins, it created a buzz in the clubhouse on Friday night.

“The guy is probably the closest to Tony Gwynn that there is right now,” Fernando Tatis Jr. said.

“Don’t attack me,” Tatis added, with a smile. “I said closest.”

That’s high praise around this team. Gwynn, Mr. Padre, won eight batting titles in San Diego, but Tatis’ comparison shows the level of excitement in the clubhouse that a lineup with this many stars was getting even better.

“It’s hard to have a comp to Tony Gwynn,” Shildt said, “but if there is one in our modern game, we now have him on our team -- and that just feels right.”

The excitement created by Arraez’s arrival was palpable in the ballpark the entire game, with his four straight hits to start his Padres career bringing the dugout to its feet.

“He acts like a spark plug -- a really tough out and he finds the bases. So it’ll be really fun to have him on with the thump that we have behind him,” said right-hander Michael King, who turned in six scoreless innings with three strikeouts and no walks.

The deal for Arraez, which sent right-handed reliever Woo-Suk Go and three prospects to Miami, is the second major trade pulled off by president of baseball operations A.J. Preller since the end of Spring Training. Just before breaking camp in Arizona and heading for the Seoul Series, the Padres acquired right-hander Dylan Cease from the White Sox.

“The front office and A.J., this is a good time to stop and just give them some credit,” Shildt said. “I mean, this guy, you leave the last day of Arizona Spring Training and we got Dylan Cease, who was pretty good for us last night. And now you’re in early May, and you make a move for a guy like Arraez. It says volumes about the organization’s commitment to winning.”

The Padres are looking to return to the playoffs after a disappointing 2023 that saw them finish 82-80 despite a loaded roster. Gone are stars Juan Soto, Blake Snell and Josh Hader, but the Padres still have Tatis, Manny Machado and Xander Bogaerts, and the front office has never stopped looking for ways to get better.

"A.J. Preller is not sitting still,” D-backs manager Torey Lovullo said. “He's making moves and making his team better. And sometimes you're dealing in tight windows and you've got to make decisions right now. I was a little surprised Arraez was available. I'm a big fan of his, and he adds to an already really, really good lineup. He makes them better."

While it’s more common for teams to wait until the Trade Deadline to assess whether they want to add payroll or spend prospect capital, Preller and Co. didn’t feel like waiting.

“A left-handed bat was something that we did prioritize,” Preller said, “and I think, ultimately, we talked about whether to wait [till the Trade Deadline] or to go out and try to get one of the better ones that would probably be available and do it now. This will give us Luis Arraez for 140 games versus going and getting somebody else for 60 games.”

The Padres were also able to acquire Arraez without adding to their payroll. Preller said the cash considerations included in the trade from the Marlins cover Arraez’s salary for 2024. Arraez, 27, has one more year of salary arbitration left before free agency.

“This is one of those [deals] that just lined up both ways,” Preller said, “where we can add an elite talent and we can do it at a price that, ultimately, fits for us this year and, hopefully, enables us to do some other things down the road.”

As he showed in his Padres debut, Arraez gives the club some elite on-base skills. On Saturday, he secured his 12th four-plus-hit game since 2022, the most in the Majors over that stretch.

“I know Manny, Tatis and Bogaerts, those guys got a lot of energy,” Arraez said. “So I just wanted to be here and bring my energy, too. What a game. What a day for me, too.”