Jake Arrieta Set To Reunite With The Chicago Cubs

The last time Jake Arrieta pitched for the Chicago Cubs, it was their lone win in the 2017 National League Championship Series against the Los Angeles Dodgers. The Cubs have not won a playoff game since then.

According to multiple reports, Arrieta is set to rejoin the Cubs after a three-season hiatus in Philadelphia. The deal is pending a physical, but it has been reported at one year for $6 million.

It was reported that Arrieta had other offers for more money from other teams, but he preferred the idea of going back to Chicago, the team that gambled on him in the now-infamous 2013 trade with the Baltimore Orioles.

This purported desire for a reunion makes sense; Arrieta had the best year of his career with the Cubs in 2015, putting up historic numbers in the second half of that season on his way to a Cy Young Award. The following year, he won two games in the World Series as the Cubs ended their 108-year championship drought.

Arrieta has not been the same pitcher since leaving Chicago after the 2017 season, however. His ERA climbed steadily in this three seasons with the Phillies, and Arrieta struggled to keep runners off of the bases. After posting a WHIP (walks/hits per inning pitched) below 1.00 in 2014 and 2015, Arrieta averaged around 1.5 runners per inning pitched in 2019 and 2020.

Though he presided over one of the best stretches of seasons in Cubs history, their desire to bring him back is likely more than simple nostalgia.

The rotation has lost a lot of veteran presence since the 2020 season ended. Yu Darvish was traded to the San Diego Padres in December, and Jon Lester left as a free agent for the Washington Nationals. Starters José Quintana and Tyler Chatwood also headed elsewhere this winter.

That’s over 40 seasons of baseball experience, collectively, gone from the Cubs rotation. Arrieta can help anchor the middle and end of the rotation with veteran presence that drops off significantly after Kyle Hendricks and Zach Davies.

At the peak of his powers in 2015, Arrieta averaged around 95 on his four-seam fastball and sinker, and his oft-used slider came in at just under 91 miles per hour. He devastated opposing hitters back then with this changeup and breaking pitches, allowing a batting average of a little over .100 on those three offerings combined.

But while with the Phillies, his overall velocity dropped and opposing hitters had a lot more success against Arrieta. One sliver of optimism for the Cubs in 2021 might come from the fact that Arrieta’s average velocity climbed back up some in 2020.

Last season, Arrieta had gained about a mile per hour on his fastball and sinker, and although he was not throwing his slider as hard as he once did, Arrieta kept opposing hitters to a .175 batting average with it in 2020.

Some of this could be chalked up to the shortened season — who knows how well Arrieta might have maintained some of these improvements across a full schedule — and realistically at age 35 when the season begins, Arrieta isn’t going to be expected to spearhead the Cubs rotation, let alone replicate the kinds of numbers he was putting up half a dozen years ago.

However, as the Cubs have said goodbye to several key members of their recent competitive window and maybe more to come in the next few months, a reunion with Arrieta can at least give Cubs fans a nice trip down memory lane.


Speak Your Mind

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here

Get in Touch

350FansLike
100FollowersFollow
281FollowersFollow
150FollowersFollow

Recommend for You

Oh hi there 👋
It’s nice to meet you.

Subscribe and receive our weekly newsletter packed with awesome articles that really matters to you!

We don’t spam! Read our privacy policy for more info.

You might also like

U.S. Households’ Net Worth Hits Record $123.5 Trillion As...

Topline While unemployment has remained stubbornly above pre-pandemic levels, record highs in the stock...

Amid Stalemate, Centre Permits 20 States to Raise Rs...

A file photo of the ministry of finance, New Delhi.The Department of Expenditure, Ministry...

Amazon: The Consumer’s Everything In A Post Covid World

Recently my three-year-old expressed concern about the big bad wolf and asked me if...

How Will Christmas Markets Adapt To The Threat Of...

Christmas markets are a lifeline for many small businesses...