PHOENIX — The San Diego Padres did not wait around to see if their current collection of players could be good enough.

As those players began a game against the Arizona Diamondbacks on Friday night, the team was completing a trade with the Marlins for Luis Arráez, the reigning National League batting champion.

Arráez led all major league hitters with a .354 batting average in 2023 and won the AL batting crown with a .316 average for the Twins in ‘22. He is batting .299 with a .347 on-base percentage through 33 games this season.

Around the time Arráez was scratched from the Miami Marlins lineup minutes before they played in Oakland, the Padres commenced a 7-1 victory at Chase Field.

Fernando Tatis Jr. and Jake Cronenworth hit back-to-back homers in a four-run fourth inning, and Manny Machado hit a two-run homer as part of a three-run fifth. Tatis added two singles, and Croneworth added two doubles.

Starting pitcher Dylan Cease allowed one run in 62/3 innings. Jeremiah Estrada got the final out of the seventh and worked a perfect eighth before Jhony Brito finished the game.

The victory moved the Padres to within a game of .500 (17-18), and came with the kind of production that gave credence to the idea their offense will find its footing after an uneven start.

But after enduring a 2023 campaign in which a seemingly loaded lineup underperformed almost to the end and missed the playoffs by two games, the Padres’ decision makers pulled the trigger on a rare May trade involving a big name.

The price to give the Padres’ offense another weapon was minor-leaguers Dillon Head, Jakob Marsee and Nathan Martorella and pitcher Woo-Suk Go.

Additionally and significantly, Arráez is due around $8.4 million for the rest of 2024.

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