Luis Arraez’s hitting coach drops Alex Pereira’s iconic 1-liner on Padres star's batting practice 

Padres infielder Luis Arraez has won three batting titles, twice in the National League and once in the American League, over the last three seasons. The 3x All-Star has already begun his batting practice under Frank Valdez, a professional hitting coach.

On Thursday, Valdez shared a video coaching Arraez. The coach captioned the post:

"Chama 2025"

Screenshot of Luis Arraez's coach Frank Valdez's Instagram story (Source - Instagram/fvbaseballtraining)

The one-liner "Chama" was popularized by Alex Pereira, the UFC light heavyweight champion. Pereira is Brazilian, and thus, Portuguese is his mother tongue. However, he does not use the word in a formal sense. The 37-year-old uses it as slang for "Let's Go" or "Come On."

Returning to the Instagram story, Arraez looks in top form as he effortlessly hits the balls in practice. Often touted as the best contact hitter in the game, Arraez's talent was evident in the batting practice. The 3x batting champion wore a casual tee, black shorts and knee cap in the video. Adding flair, Arraez's gloves and shoes were yellow.

Arraez played for two teams, Miami Marlins and Padres, in 2024, with a .314 batting average and recording 200 hits. Even though he won the batting title again, Arraez's performance was slightly inferior to his 2023 season with the Marlins.

Playing for Miami in 2023, Arraez had a. 354 batting average, recorded 203 hits and came eighth in the NL MVP voting. He also secured All-Star and Silver Slugger selections. In 2024, Arraez came 18th in the NL MVP voting. The 27-year-old was an All-Star in the season but couldn't win the Silver Slugger Award.

Luis Arraez avoids arbitration with San Diego Padres but is still in rumor mills

Luis Arraez will become an unrestricted free agent after the end of the 2025 season. Arraez and the Padres agreed to a $14,000,000 salary for the upcoming season, thus avoiding arbitration. In 2024, Arraez bagged a salary of $10,600,000.

Even though he has been the premier contact hitter in the game, Arraez has been exposed as a defensive liability. His name has been in the rumors mills lately, for a potential move to the New York Yankees.

In addition to the Yankees, the Mariners and Mets are potential landing spots for Luis Arraez. Mariners have one of the best pitching rotations, but a top veteran presence is unavailable despite the presence of budding superstars like Julio Rodriguez.

As for the Mets, the uncertainty of Pete Alonso has left a gap in first base. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. is considered a trade option, but acquiring Guerrero Jr. in the 2026 free agency is a better option than losing top prospects in a trade, making Arraez a possible fit in the lineup.