Few people alive can compete with the level of baseball geekery present in Kevin Brown, the fan favorite announcer on MASN and ESPN.
So of course Brown was more than ready to appreciate just how rare it was when, in the top of the third inning during the NL Wild Card series between the Chicago Cubs and San Diego Padres, veteran infielder Luis Arraez swung and missed on a pitch to Cubs starter Matthew Boyd.
“We just saw a blue-moon event, folks. A Luis Arraez swing and miss,” Brown chortled. “Whatever happens for the next month will not be as unlikely as that.”
“We just saw a blue-moon event, folks. A Luis Arraez swing and miss. Whatever happens for the next month will not be as unlikely as that.”
“Give Matthew Boyd a full postseason MVP, make up a new award for him!”
Kevin Brown reacts to back to back Luis Arraez whiffs on ABC: pic.twitter.com/10ELBdCYUY
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) September 30, 2025
Arraez, a career .317 hitter across seven Major League seasons, has held the lowest “whiff” rate of any hitter in the big leagues for seven straight seasons. And Arraez doesn’t just lead in this category, he leads by a mile.
Arraez has swung and missed at fewer pitches than anyone in MLB by at least 2 percentage points each of those seasons.
Brown was more than ready to highlight this rare occurrence when, against all odds, Arraez whiffed on the next pitch by Boyd to strike out.
“Give Matthew Boyd a full postseason MVP, make up a new award for him!” Brown said.
The Padres’ first baseman also has led the majors in strikeout rate by a mile for the past four seasons.
The at-bat was just one of Boyd’s strong tries in Game 1 of the series, holding San Diego to just one run in 4 and 1/3 innings.
About Brendon Kleen
Brendon is a Media Commentary staff writer at Awful Announcing. He has also covered basketball and sports business at Front Office Sports, SB Nation, Uproxx and more.