National League batting champion Luis Arraez of the San Diego Padres said he underwent surgery to repair a torn ligament in his left thumb Wednesday.
Arraez said he played through the injury for the entire second half of the season. He injured it June 25 against the Washington Nationals on a headfirst slide into third base on a triple.
“Today, I underwent surgery on my thumb after pushing through an injured half of the season,” Arraez wrote on X. “Despite the pain, I continued to play, but it became clear that surgery was necessary to fully recover. The procedure went smoothly, and I’m now focused on healing and getting back.”
Today, I underwent surgery on my thumb after pushing through an injured half of the season. Despite the pain, I continued to play, but it became clear that surgery was necessary to fully recover. The procedure went smoothly, and I’m now focused on healing and getting back🦾🙏🏽🚿 pic.twitter.com/pd1bP93N2d
— Luis Arraez (@Arraez_21) October 16, 2024
A team spokesman, per MLB.com, said Arraez was expected to resume hitting in about eight weeks and should be fully healthy for the start of spring training.
Arraez batted .314 this season while winning his third consecutive batting title. He is the first player to win three straight titles with three different teams — he won the American League crown in 2022 with the Minnesota Twins and also won the NL title with the Miami Marlins in 2023.
Arraez, 27, had 200 hits this season, his second straight year reaching the milestone. He also had four homers, 24 doubles and 41 RBIs in 150 games between the Padres (117) and Marlins (33).
San Diego acquired Arraez from the Marlins for four minor leaguers in early May.
In 2022, Arraez batted .316 for the Twins and .354 for Miami in 2023.
Overall, Arraez has a .323 average with 28 homers and 247 RBIs in 686 career games over six seasons with the Twins (2019-22), Marlins (2023-24) and Padres.
Information from Field Level Media was used in this report.