Cubs' Plan to Limit Arrieta's Innings is Genius

Coming off the best-pitched second half in MLB history, Jake Arrieta will once again head the Chicago Cubs’ starting rotation. Despite how well he pitched last year, the Cubs plan to limit his innings, especially early in the season. With the Cubs looking primed for a run at the World Series, this makes perfect sense.

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While Arrieta prides himself on going deep into games, he’s already acknowledged cutting down on innings early on will keep him fresh when it matters. Instead of working into the eighth or ninth every time out, working six or seven innings should be fine, especially if the Cubs have a decent lead.

In 2015, Arrieta pitched a total of 248.2 innings, including the playoffs, which is a whopping 92 more innings than his previous career high. He admits that all those innings took their toll by playoff time. The 2015 NL Cy Young award winner faltered in his final two playoff starts and he actually wasn’t as sharp as normal in the wild card playoff game.

It’s strange to say a pitcher who pitched a four-hit, complete game shutout while striking out 10 wasn’t sharp, but he really wasn’t. He got hit hard all game long, but was bailed out by a couple double-play balls. Even without his best stuff, he was able to get batters out.

John Lackey is known as a big-game pitcher and he will have to step up in October, especially if Arrieta isn’t completely fresh. Rick Scuteri, USA TODAY Sports /

The Cubs are going to need him to have his best stuff this October, though. In order to win the World Series for the first time since 1908, the Cubs need Arrieta to set the tone for the rest of the rotation, namely Jon Lester and John Lackey. Each of those pitchers is known for showing up in big games.

The Cubs’ eventual downfall, in the way of an NLCS sweep at the hands of the New York Mets, came down to their lack of starting pitching depth. Neither Jason Hammel nor Kyle Hendricks proved capable of winning big games in the postseason. The addition of Lackey should help in that department.

Really, though, Arrieta’s ability to take over games is going to make the difference for the Cubs this postseason. If he can dominate opposing lineups like Madison Bumgarner did in 2014, Chicago is in really good shape. If he can’t, they will have to more heavily rely on Lester and Lackey.

A fresh Arrieta is the best way to make sure the team gets somewhere they haven’t been since World War II. Limiting his innings early, and making sure he’s only at 190-200 by the end of the regular season will ensure the Cubs their best chance at winning it all in a very long time.

Follow Jacob Kornhauser on Twitter @KornSports for updates on America’s pastime or to simply talk baseball.

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