Joe Edinger

If you invoke the name of Luis Arraez in a discussion with anyone who has even a passing knowledge of baseball, the word “contact” will likely be one of the first few words said. There's an obvious reason for that, as Arraez' ability to put the bat on the ball is his trademark calling card, and he is arguably the best playing today at doing it. Since entering the league in 2019, Arraez' 93.6% contact rate is the best in all of baseball, just narrowly edging out Steven Kwan of the Guardians (92%).

The first four games of this pivotal stretch for the Phillies against the Atlanta Braves are over. It didn't go quite the way Philadelphia could've hoped, as they were only able to split the series. They are now still four games behind the Braves with three games in Atlanta coming next weekend and 18 games remaining overall. As the even result may hint towards, it was a competitive series throughout.