San Diego Padres first baseman Luis Arraez was removed from Sunday’s game against the Kansas City Royals at the start of the bottom of the sixth inning.
In a post on X by the team’s radio affiliate 97.3 The Fan, Arraez appeared to potentially injure his arm on a headfirst slide into second base on his RBI hit in the 5th inning.
Arraez was 1-for-3 with an RBI when he left the contest. Tyler Wade entered the lineup in his place and Jake Cronenworth moved from second base to first.
The Padres have been a much better offense since acquiring Arraez from the Miami Marlins on May 4. No team has more singles since May 4 than the Padres’ 178 which happens to be how long the game’s active singles hitter has been on the team.
“He starts the line, and we just follow,” Fernando Tatis Jr., told Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune on Saturday. “That’s what happens when you have a real lead-off hitter in front of everybody.”
Entering Sunday’s game against, Arraez was batting .398 (41–for–103) in 23 games with the Padres. They are 14-9 in games he starts and 14-11 since he arrived.
Hopefully, his early exit was precautionary because the Padres will sorely miss him if he has to miss a significant amount of time.