The Official Jake Arrieta Is His Own Religion Blog
Not to get all religious but I want to point out that Jake Arrieta is in his Jesus prime. He grew a gigantic beard and started working miracles at age 29. Before then He was your run of the mill carpenter. Now He’s a modern day savior. So to recognize this divine greatness, we’re spending our off day (aka Day of Rest) giving praise to Jake Arrieta.
Remember This?
Obviously we know this trade is well on its way to being known as the most lopsided transaction in the history of professional sports. Not trying to beat a dead horse here but that’s a fact. But to understand just how good Arrieta’s been since becoming a Cub, I think we need to step back and drum up some perspective on his time with the Orioles and the changes He’s made to his game.
To start, no one really knew what we were getting back in Arrieta when the trade went down. The numbers were ugly: He posted a 5.46 ERA in 63 starts for Baltimore while racking up some pretty brutal peripherals (1.47 WHIP, 10% walk rate, .262 avg against). His best season with Baltimore was his rookie year in 2010 when He posted a 4.66 ERA, 4.76 FIP and a 89 ERA+. Things only got worse from there including some injuries and a nauseating game of musical chairs with the Orioles’ AAA affiliate. So needless to say, the paper trail wasn’t particularly encouraging. Per se.
But insider reports praised his size and stuff as well as all the soft traits like his work ethic, attitude and maturity. He was described as the kind of guy that really, REALLY wanted to figure “it” out, which brings me to this brief yet wildly important interview from late 2010:
Knee jerk reaction: tell me more, Jake! And just to be clear, that’s a rookie with about 3 months of experience under his belt talking in circles about optimal bullpen stride lengths vs. in game adjustments and load hitches and power positions. Not a veteran pitching coach but a rookie. What’s more impressive is the way He flows from one topic to the next, all under the premise of how it relates back to finding success through a repeatable delivery. That maturity/awareness/mindset is both incredibly rare for a youngster and extremely valuable because it often pushes a player to continuous self-improvement.
In this case, you’re hearing it right from the horse’s mouth that He’s working to fix a hitch in his load that will allow him to repeat his delivery more easily. Fast forward 6 years later and now He’s got one of the most repeatable deliveries in the game. The same can be said for his stride. Six years ago He’s talking about focusing on a stride that lets him get to his power position and how important that is to his delivery. Now? He’s created a RIDICULOUS stride point that allows him to uncork sliders in the low 90’s on the heels of a very simple delivery.
Hitches when He breaks his hands. Stride point (left foot lands) direct on path to home plate.
Smooth/repeatable hand break with great tempo and a closed-off stride point to arm-side of home plate.
I bring all of this up because I think it speaks volume about Arrieta’s emergence. Three years ago He was a recovering prospect surrendered in a deal for a 4th starter. Now He’s become the best in the game and it’s largely due to mastering a repeatable delivery. So when we talk about how good Arrieta’s been and how important He’s been to the Cubs‘ turnaround, know that it didn’t come from some stroke of luck or PED usage or any other kind of gimmick. Fuck that. He’s this good because He earned it. Plain and simple.
The Numbers
All this talk about Jake Arrieta being the absolute best means I have to now back it up. So please allow me to me turn it over to a recent blog from our squid friends at Elias Sports Bureau and ESPN:
Since July 26, 2015 Jake Arrieta has:
•Made 20 starts going 17-0 over 142.1 innings pitched
•Posted an 0.66 ERA and an 0.69 WHIP
•Almost as many no-hitters (2) as He does HR allowed (3)
•More no-hitters (2) than losses in His last 26 starts.
• Made twice as much hard contact than his opponents (15% vs 7%) **this is absurd**
•Accounted for 7 runs with his 2 HR, 3 other runs scored and 2 RBIs that weren’t himself. That’s more than half of the earned runs He’s allowed in that time (12).
Other Notables:
• Since the start of last season, Arrieta’s 15 scoreless starts are 4 more than any other pitcher.
•Arrieta is the first Cubs pitcher to win his first six starts in a season in 108 years. The last was Mordecai “3-Finger” Brown in 1908, who won his first 11.
•Arrieta’s 4 shutouts since the start of last season are the same as the Yankees have as a team in that span.
•Arrieta has 5 starts since the beginning of last August in which He pitched at least 6 innings without allowing a hard-hit ball, most in the majors.
•Arrieta has an 0.55 ERA since the start of last August (best in the majors); the margin between his ERA and the second-best ERA (Kershaw, 1.73) during that span is larger than the margin between Kershaw and the 11th-best ERA (minimum 10 starts).
•Arrieta: has allowed 4 earned runs in 6 starts (43 innings pitched) this season. There has already been 162 instances (entering Sunday) of a starter allowing more than four earned runs in an outing.
•The Cubs are 23-1 in Arrieta’s past 24 starts, with the loss coming when they were no-hit by Cole Hamels on July 25 last season. Put another way, since last July 1, the Cubs are 23-0 when providing Arrieta with at least one hit of support.
•There are 108 players with a higher salary than Arrieta’s $10.7 million this season. Among those are C.J. Wilson ($20 million), Homer Bailey ($18 million) and Matt Harrison ($13.2 million), none of whom have pitched this season. **Hey Theo**
The Man Behind The Numbers
The numbers are nice, but there’s far more to this man than a world class beard and sheer fucking dominance. To illustrate, I’ve gathered and organized some gems that should allow you, the fan, to get a better idea of who the best pitcher in the universe really is.
Remember that next time you see one of these:
“That’s fuckin right!” – Jake https://t.co/Xw0zsxMffu
— carl (@barstoolcarl) October 8, 2015
Favorite GOT character is basically a one question personality test. Jamie Lannister? You’re an asshole. Robb Stark? Stop living in the past. Jon Snow? Get over yourself. You’re not that honorable. That said, it’s not exactly rocket science that Mother of Dragons is the sweet spot here. She’s conquering yet compassionate, fearless and exotic, a late boomer and devoted to re-establishing her house as the preeminent ruler of the 7 Kingdoms just like the Cubs are trying to get back to 1908 glory. Coincidence? No.
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slash throw no hitters
Prime off day. Racked 25 miles with my comrade on the Xtracycle pic.twitter.com/BhyzdnPu21 — Jake Arrieta (@JArrieta34) July 24, 2015
What did you do this weekend?
Hitting the salad bar at Whole Foods is a lot like starting a new job. You’re eager to go in and do something different, make new choices, all that shit. Then you actually get there and you realize you don’t really want to try that hard so it’s back to chicken, bacon and ranch with a dash of romaine and two scoops of shredded parm. We’ve all been there. Nothing changes.
That said, Jake strikes me as the kind of guy that loads up on the exotic delicacies. Makes the most out of the $9.49/lb Whole Foods charges. Love this guy.
At the same time, Jake’s not afraid to indulge in the occasional guilty pleasure because He knows that good, centered Chi must be supported by a balanced diet. Bonus points for the Arrietas going to Ann Sathers – the owner doubles as the Alderman of the 44th ward, otherwise known as the guy who fought the Cubs for years on rooftop rights. Forgive and forget folks. Life’s too short.
Fact = 96% of steroid users responded “STRONGLY AGREE” when asked to evaluate the following statement: Nickelback and Creed rock. Ipso facto Jake’s in good company.
Jake also has a pretty firm preferences when it comes to drinking. Don’t be shocked if any/all of this sounds like your grandfather:
(easy to say when you’re immune to acid reflux)
Good call. It’s not.
I’m guessing Jake uses a French Press so that makes this slightly less cool but still. No bullshit. No mochas or fraps or iced cinnamon swirl syrup. Let’s just get down to business and drink some fucking coffee.
And then finally, of course, most importantly:
PS – Looking at you Addy….
#FIFA #USAvsBelgium #KCCO @TheChivery pic.twitter.com/BuQTwuj2Wh
— Addison Russell (@Addison_Russell) July 1, 2014