Before dismissing the Miami Marlins Venezuelan outfielder’s comparison, Luis Arraes, and late Hall of Famer, Tony Gwynn, consider the following characteristics and statistics between both batters

Through the first 61 games of the 2023 season, Arraes is hitting .399 and proving his 2022 batting title was no fluke. In June, he is 19-for-11 with just one strikeout, which has pushed his average up to one-hundredth of a .400 average to put him in the discussion.

From a baseball perspective, Arraes is not yet worthy of being next to Gwynn, the eight-time National League hitting champion. But he has four completed seasons in the majors, which puts him on track to be right up there with arguably the best hitters of the 1980s and 1990s.

Arraes is left-handed, as is Tony Gwynn. Their batting styles are even similar.

The Venezuelan had 444 hits in his first 1,569 at-bats over his first four major league seasons, all with the Minnesota Twins. During that span, Gwynn had 559 strikeouts in 1,722 innings.

Both were “jiteros” in that period. Of Arraes’ 444 hits, only 14 were home runs. Gwinn, meanwhile, has given up 13 in his first four seasons.

They were also sprinklers, as baseball calls players who connect to all sides of the field. And both were gap hitters; Arraes had 77 doubles and Gwynn had 54.

Arraez hit .300 or better in three of his first four seasons, as did Gwynn. And he, like Gwinn, had a championship in his first three seasons.

Naturally, both struck out little. In his first 1,569 at-bats, Arraes struck out 131 times. In this row, the Gwynn coefficient was 93 for 1722. And they didn’t get free tickets either. Arraes had 137 in his first four seasons to Gwinn’s 131.