A historic first by a Miami Marlins hitter

It looks like this prediction about last night's game was true. In fact it was definitely better than the disappointing events from two days ago. A historic event took place this time around, as new Miami Marlins second baseman Luis Arraez became the first player in franchise history to hit for the cycle. The team's Twitter account even has his picture now! The Miami Marlins beat the Philadelphia Phillies 8-4 and Luis Arraez made history.

Luis Arraez made history for the Miami Marlins last night.

Luis Arraez has been a revelation for the Miami Marlins this season. Arraez debuted in 2019 for the Minnesota Twins, and batted .334/.399/.439 in 92 games and 326 AB. He was worth 1.6 WAR for that performance. In the shortened 2020 season, Arraez followed that up with a .321/.364/.402 batting line in 32 games and 112 AB. He was worth 0.9 WAR.

In 2021, Luis Arraez batted .294/.357/.376 in 121 games and 428 AB. He was worth 3.4 WAR for that performance. In 2022, he batted .316/.375/.420 in 144 games and 547 AB. This time not only was he worth 4.3 WAR, but he won the American League batting title. This season, he's batting .500/.571/.556 in 11 games and 42 AB. The batting line is obviously going to go down, but he's still going to have elite numbers. Fangraphs projects a .320/.383/.417 batting line rest of the season.

Luis Arraez started the cycle with a double in the first inning off of Philadelphia Phillies starting pitcher Aaron Nola. He then singled in the third inning and tripled in the sixth inning off of the Philly ace. Arraez completed the cycle with a home run off of Connor Brogdon in the seventh inning. He also hit into left field off of Philly relief pitcher Andrew Bellatti. I can't imagine a more impressive performance from an OBP machine that is Luis Arraez.

It's safe to say that Luis Arraez is exactly what the Miami Marlins lineup needs. Hopefully he ends up winning the National League batting title. The rest of the lineup needs to follow his lead.