Jake Arrieta was traded to the Chicago Cubs in the middle of the 2013 season. To that point, he’d had limited success in his career with the Baltimore Orioles and was in the midst of his worst run in the big leagues. The Cubs’ then-president of baseball operations Theo Epstein was generating a lot of buzz around the league at the time. Arrieta’s acquisition, alongside reliever Pedro Strop, was seen as not much more than a depth-providing measure. What Arrieta did next stunned the baseball world and rewrote history. Let’s take a look back at the former Cubs ace’s historic run.
Jake Arrieta’s Annus Mirabilis for the Cubs
A Young and Promising Arm Out of College
Arrieta was selected by the Orioles in the fifth round (159) of the 2007 draft out of Texas Christian. The six-foot-four, 230-pound right-hander was a Single-A Futures Game selection and Pitcher of the Year in 2008.
His average fastball velocity (95.1 mph) was above league average. Over time he added a hard slider (90.8), a sinker (95.3), and he also threw a curveball and changeup. In every case, his velocity was above league averages.
A So-So Early Career in Baltimore
Arrieta made his major league debut on June 10, 2010, ending with a 6-6 record in 18 starts. Over the next three seasons, Arrieta’s walks, hits and strikeout ratios steadily improved. But his numbers were still anything but brilliant.
By the middle of the 2013 campaign, he had accumulated a 20-25 record, a 5.79 ERA, and a 1.472 WHIP, with 277 strikeouts in 358 innings, all of them as a starter. He was also on his worst run as a pro with a 1-2 record, a 7.23 ERA, and a 1.775 WHIP in five starts that season.
A Fresh Start On Chicago’s Northside
On July 2, 2013, Arrieta and teammate and fellow righthander Pedro Strop were traded to the Cubs. The deal sent catcher Steve Clevenger and right-handed pitcher Scott Feldman to the Orioles.
Arrieta was the first of the five starters who ended up filling the Cubs starting rotation in 2016. Kyle Hendricks and Jon Lester were acquired in the next two seasons, respectively, and John Lackey and Jason Hammel before the 2016 season.
It was at that point that something clicked for the journeyman starter. Whether it was the buzz going around the league about the team being built in Chicago, or just his own desire to succeed, Arrieta made the most of his chance.
Peaking At Just the Right Moment
Passion, Process, and Progress
Arrieta finished the 2013 season with a 4-2 record with career-bests in ERA (3.66) and WHIP (1.123) in nine starts. Suddenly brimming with confidence, he followed that with an exceptional performance in 2014. That year he went 10-5, with a 2.53 ERA, a 0.989 WHIP, and 167 strikeouts in 156 2/3 innings. His complete game shutout that season perhaps foreshadowed that a still greater performance was yet to come. Arrieta provided that the following season.
2015: Answering the Call to Greatness
The Cubs ace’s historic run began in 2015. His 22-6 record, 1.77 ERA, 0.865 WHIP, and 236 strikeouts in 229 innings only tell part of the story. In a record-setting second half, he allowed just four earned runs in 13 starts from the beginning of August and a 0.37 ERA. That streak included the no-hitter against the Los Angeles Dodgers on August 30, the first of two in eight months.
His 20 consecutive quality starts were the most ever to end a season. He then threw a five-hit shutout with 11 strikeouts and no walks against the Pittsburgh Pirates in the NL Wild Card Game. He was the first pitcher to record a postseason shutout with 10-plus strikeouts and no walks.
That season, Arrieta led the NL in hits and lowest home runs allowed per nine innings pitched. His superior second half earned him the National League Cy Young Award, the first by a Cubs pitcher since Greg Maddux in 1992. It had been a historic year by any measure, but the 29-year-old from Farmington, Missouri, wasn’t finished yet.
2016: Another Great Season and A World Series Title
OTD in 2016, Jake Arrieta threw his 2nd no-hitter in 11 starts
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Although statistically, his career had peaked in 2015, Arrieta’s greatest glory came with the Cubs in 2016. It began with his second no-hitter in 49 games, a 16-0 drubbing of the Cincinnati Reds on April 21. He ended the season with an 18-8 record, a 3.10 ERA, and a 1.084 WHIP with 190 strikeouts in 197 1/3 innings.
In the postseason, Arrieta was great when it counted most. He finished 2-1 in four starts with a 3.63 ERA, a 1.075 WHIP, and 25 strikeouts in 22 1/3 innings. That included his 2-0 record, 2.38 ERA, 0.971 WHIP, and 15 strikeouts in 11 1/3 innings against the Cleveland Indians in the World Series.
Four Seasons of Greatness Bookended by Mediocrity
Curiously, the numbers for Arrieta in Chicago compared to the rest of his career are a study in paradox. From the second half of 2013 through the end of 2017, he had a combined 68-31 record, a 2.92 ERA, and a 1.05 WHIP in 128 starts. Add in the two no-no’s (and at least two near misses), six complete games, five shutouts, a Cy Young Award and a World Series Championship.
Now contrast that with his 47-62 record, 4.91 ERA, and 1.50 WHIP in 151 starts on either side of that run (including his 20 starts for the Cubs in 2021). Arrieta’s career WHIP was V-shaped, moving steadily downward from 1.535 in 2010 to its low of 0.865 in the Cy Young year, 2015, and back up again through 2021 (1.774).
A Cubs Great for All Seasons
Arrieta finished his Annus Mirabilis (“Miracle year”) with an 8.3 WAR, more than a point higher than Corbin Burnes, this year’s highest-ranked free-agent pitcher. Yet, Arrieta was signed to a one-year $10.7 million contract for 2016. That year he led the Cubs to their first World Series title in 108 years.
Burnes, on the other hand, just signed a six-year deal with the Arizona Diamondbacks worth $35 million a year. Granted, salaries have increased and the game has changed. Burnes also has a Cy Young (NL/2021/Milwaukee Brewers), and was an All-Star last year with the Orioles. But he hasn’t achieved anything like Arrieta did during the 2015-2016 seasons. Baseball is fickle.
Although he’s not a future Hall of Fame candidate, Arrieta’s career numbers are more than respectable. A 115-93 lifetime record, 3.98 ERA, 1.253 WHIP, 1,433 strikeouts, six complete games, five shutouts, two no-hitters, a Cy Young and a World Series ring. Not bad for a kid from the Missouri farm country.
Maybe the best part for Arrieta is the continued love and support he gets from Cubs fans everywhere. That was evident last season when he appeared at Wrigley Field to throw out the ceremonial first pitch on June 4. For Cubs fans, the former ace’s historic run will never be forgotten.
Photo Credit: © David Banks-Imagn Images
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