7:23PM: In an in-game interview with ESPN’s Buster Olney, Padres manager Mike Shildt said initial concerns were about Arraez’s neck and jaw. For the latter, Shildt said Arraez “has a little bit of a cut on the jaw, [we’re] worried about the jaw, stability of that.” (Hat tip to The Athletic’s Chandler Rome)
6:53PM: Padres designated hitter Luis Arraez suffered an apparent head or neck injury after a big collision with Astros second baseman Mauricio Dubon in tonight’s game. Arraez was thrown out at first base while trying to bunt for a base hit, and ran headfirst into Dubon’s shoulder while the second baseman was covering the bag. Arraez was down on the field and almost motionless for several minutes, and had to be carted off once his head and neck area was stabilized by a brace. He was conscious, and gave a thumbs up while being removed from the field.
The Padres provided an update on their X account, saying that Arraez was “currently stable, conscious, responsive, and able to move his extremities.” The infielder is receiving further examination and treatment at a Houston hospital.
We’ll undoubtedly get more updates over the course of the evening, but at the very least, it seems like Arraez is heading to the injured list (either the normal 10-day IL or the seven-day IL for concussion-related issues). Given how scary the incident looked, one can only hope that Arraez any kind of serious injury to his neck or head that would impact his day-to-day-life, to say nothing of his baseball career.
Arraez entered tonight’s action hitting a solid .287/.330/.425 over his first 95 plate appearances of the 2025 season, again acting as San Diego’s everyday first baseman. The extreme contact hitter has been baseball’s toughest batter to strike out essentially since he made his MLB debut with the Twins in 2019, though Arraez’s contact rarely translates into any sort of power. The old-school approach has undoubtedly been productive, as Arraez is the only player in the history of the sport to win three straight batting titles with three different teams — he won the AL batting crown with the Twins in 2022, with the Marlins in 2023, and then mostly with the Padres in 2024 after Miami dealt him to San Diego 33 games into last season.
This throwback nature has made Arraez a fan favorite, and his contributions both on the field and within the Padres’ clubhouse were viewed as a catalyst for San Diego’s success in 2024. Since Arraez will surely have to miss some time in the wake of tonight’s collision, he’ll represent yet another key Padres player on the injured list. The Friars are already trying to get by without Yu Darvish, Jackson Merrill, Jake Cronenworth, and others, yet San Diego still took a league-best 15-6 record into tonight’s game in Houston.
