SAN DIEGO — Luis Arraez freely admits that when he got the news that he was being traded in January 2023 away from the only organization he had ever known, it was an emotional moment for him.

“I cried a lot,” Arraez said. “I never forgot Minnesota. I miss Minnesota.”

Luis Arraez #4 of the San Diego Padres slides to second base against Xavier Edwards #63 of the Miami Marlins during the fifth inning of the game at loanDepot park on Aug. 11, 2024 in Miami, Florida. (Photo by Megan Briggs/Getty Images)

Arraez has since been traded one more time, swapped by the Miami Marlins to the San Diego Padres this May. But while his Twins career, he said, feels like it was a while ago because of everything that has come after it, he still maintains contact with many of his former teammates and coaches, so much so that in June, in the midst of a hot streak, shortstop Carlos Correa credited Arraez for helping him out at the plate.

“He gave me good pointers going into the season, and I’ve been doing them,” Correa said two months ago. “He’s the man. He knows what he’s doing.”

What’d he tell Correa?

“Carlos, he’s always talking about baseball,” Arraez said. “I just say to him, ‘Hey, hit the ball to the middle. Try to hit the ball to the middle … or right field. You’ve got power. If I’ve got your power, I just try to hit to the middle.’ Carlos is one of my favorite players.”

Arraez, who also called Twins legend Rod Carew his “grandfather,” and said the hall of famer mentored him during his years in Minnesota, is on the hunt for his third batting title in as many years. If he accomplishes the feat, he will have done something that no hitter has done in the modern era, winning the batting crown for three different teams.

Arraez edged out New York Yankees slugger Aaron Judge, denying him of the Triple Crown, in 2022, hitting .316 to Judge’s .311 to win his first batting title while with the Twins. Last year in Miami, he hit .354, well clear of Atlanta’s Ronald Acuña Jr., who finished second in the majors hitting .337. In both years, Arraez led not just his league but Major League Baseball in hitting. This year, Arraez is just a few points shy of Atlanta’s Marcell Ozuna, entering Monday’s play hitting .305, four points behind Ozuna.

“It’s not easy, but now I compete with a lot of good players, too,” Arraez said. “I just need to feel good. If I’m healthy, I could do a lot of good things.”

It’s a staggering feat, but if anyone could accomplish it, it’s him.

“He’s just a very unique, special player. Hitter, really,” manager Rocco Baldelli said. “That’s what he is, because there’s no one in the league that really does what he does. He’s very good at what he does and it gives people, I think, a lot of enjoyment. I got a lot of enjoyment watching Luis play for the years that we had him, and I think everybody did. It’s hard not to appreciate him as a hitter.”

Culpepper promoted

Kaelen Culpepper, the Twins’ first-round draft pick earlier this summer, was promoted to High-A Advanced Cedar Rapids after nine games at Low-A Fort Myers.

Culpepper hit .297 with five extra-base hits (three doubles, two home runs), nine runs batted in in those nine games, posting a .906 OPS. The infielder primarily played shortstop but also saw some action at third base. He played both positions in college at Kansas State.

Culpepper was drafted 21st overall by the Twins this year.

Briefly

The Twins will send Bailey Ober to the mound on Tuesday against former Twin Martín Pérez. … Michael King, who started for the Padres on Monday night, attended the same high school in Rhode Island as Baldelli did years later, and he played college baseball with Baldelli’s younger brother, Dante.

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