Chicago Cubs’ Jake Arrieta: Post-Cy Young slump or one-hit wonder?
Since winning the Cy Young Award in 2015, the Chicago Cubs’ Jake Arrieta has yet to find similar success on the mound. Is this a short-term slump or was Arrieta’s award-winning season a one-hit wonder?
Since joining the Chicago Cubs in 2013, Jake Arrieta worked to make a name for himself as one of the National League’s top pitchers. His success over the past three seasons is undeniable and Arrieta played a key role in the Cubs’ 2016 World Series championship run.
Yet Arrieta appears to be moving farther away from the pitcher he was when he won the Cy Young Award in 2015. While his 4-2 record initially says otherwise, several issues are plaguing Arrieta and put his Cy Young season into question.
Is this a short-term slump that Arrieta will eventually work his way out of? Or was his award-winning season nothing more than a one-hit wonder?
You decide.
His Journey
Following his draft selections by the Cincinnati Reds in 2004 and the Milwaukee Brewers in 2005, Arrieta finally signed when the Baltimore Orioles drafted him in the fifth round in 2007.
Three years later, he debuted with the Orioles and spent the first four years of his major league career in mediocrity. With the Orioles, Arrieta went 20-25 with an ERA that ranged from 4.50 to 6.20 in 2012.
At first when Arrieta was traded to the Cubs along with Pedro Strop for Steve Clevenger and Scott Feldman in 2013, the move seemed lopsided in favor of the Orioles. Yet, as Clevenger and Feldman eventually went their separate ways, Arrieta found unprecedented success in Chicago.
In his second full year as a Cub, Arrieta went 22-6 – leading the major leagues in wins – with a minuscule 1.77 ERA to win the Cy Young. The following year, Arrieta finished ninth in the Cy Young voting with a similarly impressive record (18-8), but drastically higher ERA (3.10). Over those two seasons, Arrieta tossed a pair of no hitters.
Couldn’t Have Done It Without You
Seven starts into the season and the strength of the Cubs’ lineup takes majority credit for Arrieta’s 4-2 start, providing him the best run support in the National League.
Don’t believe me? Look at his ERA.
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While the Cubs score an average of 8.5 runs with Arrieta on the mound, he keeps the game interesting with his 5.35 ERA. Since allowing one run through six innings in his first outing, Arrieta has allowed no fewer than three runs per start.
He suffered through back-to-back five-run starts against the Reds and Boston Red Sox, and most recently he lasted only 3.2 innings against the Colorado Rockies after giving up nine runs.
Although the productive offense of the Cubs is masking Arrieta’s struggles this season, he is nonetheless no longer the pitcher he was in 2015.
A Keuchel Moment
While Arrieta won the Cy Young Award in the National League, Dallas Keuchel took it in the American League the same year and showed similar struggles following his award-winning season.
As the reigning Cy Young Award winner, Keuchel stumbled to a 9-12 record with a raised 4.55 ERA last season. Many questioned if his Cy Young season was nothing more than a fluke, but his resurgence to a 5-0 record and 1.88 ERA to start this season proved them wrong.
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What Keuchel went through following his Cy Young season shows the possibility that Arrieta’s slump can be temporary. We can agree that Arrieta has not put up the same numbers he did in 2015 or 2016, but that does not mean he cannot regain his Cy Young form in the near future, like Keuchel did.