Christian Arroyo

BIOGRAPHY

Christian Arroyo was born on May 30, 1995, in Tampa, Florida. He is an infielder in the MLB.  

The Tampa, Florida native played for the United States national baseball team at the 2013 18U Baseball World Cup, where he was the MVP of the tournament and helped the US win gold. Arroyo was committed to the University of Florida to play college baseball but elected to go pro when drafted by the San Francisco Giants in the first round of the 2013 Major League Baseball draft.

Arroyo made his professional debut with the Arizona League Giants and was later promoted to the major leagues on April 24, 2017. He made his debut later that night against the Los Angeles Dodgers. He recorded his first career hit, a single off of Clayton Kershaw, the following game. On December 20, 2017, the Rays acquired Arroyo via trade, and he made his debut with the club on May 17, 2018.

Christian grew up a Devil Rays fan and was born two months after Tampa Bay was awarded a franchise in March 1995. Rocco Baldelli was his favorite player, and he often proudly sported a green Baldelli jersey. His mother raised him alone from age 2-12 and could be considered his first hitting coach. She read Ted Williams' The Science of Hitting and attended local hitting clinics, using that knowledge to teach Christian. She even threw him batting practice while eight months pregnant in preparation for U.S. National Team tryouts. 

Arroyo was claimed off waivers by the Boston Red Sox on August 13, 2020. On August 20, he was designated for assignment, without having made an appearance for Boston; he was sent outright to the team's alternate training site on August 23. On September 8, Arroyo was selected back to Boston’s active roster; he made his first appearance for the Red Sox that day, against the Philadelphia Phillies. Overall with the 2020 Red Sox, Arroyo batted .240 with three home runs and eight RBIs in 14 games.

In 2021, Arroyo made Boston's Opening Day roster. During the regular season, Arroyo played in 57 games for Boston, batting .262 with six home runs and 25 RBIs. He also appeared in 11 postseason games, batting 9-for-38 (.237) as the Red Sox advanced to the American League Championship Series.

On March 22, 2022, Arroyo signed a $1.2 million contract with the Red Sox, avoiding salary arbitration. In 87 games with Boston, Arroyo batted .286 with six home runs and 36 RBIs.

On January 13, 2023, the Red Sox and Arroyo reached agreement on a one-year contract, avoiding salary arbitration.