Jake Arrieta and the 2015 Cubs

Jake Arrieta’s second tour of duty with the Cubs recently ended with his unconditional release after a series of disastrous outings that gave club president Jed Hoyer no alternative but to pull the plug. But it wasn’t so long ago that Arrieta’s emergence as the best pitcher in baseball signalled that the Cubs’ infamous world championship drought was likely to end sooner rather than later.

Arrieta started the 2015 season at 4-4 before winning 18 of his last 20 starts. For good measure, he then won his first nine decisions in 2016. For almost exactly a year—June 4, 2015 to May 31, 2016—Arrieta went 27-2 with a 1.32 ERA, an 0.81 WHIP, and two no-hitters.

The passage below reviews the Cubs’ heady late-season run in 2015, for which Arrieta deserved much of the credit.   

 

  

JAKE ARRIETA

After 99 games, the 2015 Cubs were 52-47. What would happen next? Would they a) fade away as the pennant race heated up? b) continue to muddle along near the break-even mark? or c) prove to be genuine contenders?

The correct answer is “c.” The rebuilt Cubs were for real. They won 15 of their next 16 games, including a four-game sweep of the San Francisco Giants (one of their main rivals for a postseason berth) at Wrigley Field. They won more games after August 1 than any other team in either league. They ended up at 97-65, an amazing achievement for a club which featured four rookies (Kris Bryant, Addison Russell, Kyle Schwarber, and Jorge Soler) in the starting lineup and whose oldest regular (catcher Miguel Montero) was just 31.

The Cubs’ record was the third best in all of baseball—but also third in their own division, behind St. Louis and Pittsburgh. Therefore, they needed to win the National League wild-card game vs. the Pirates in order to go any further. Fortunately, the right man for the job was on hand; righthander Jake Arrieta was in the midst of one of the greatest stretches for any pitcher in history. Over his last 20 starts, he had gone 16-1 with an 0.86 earned run average and three shutouts, including a no-hitter at Los Angeles on August 30. He was soon to receive the Cy Young Award.

Arrieta remained true to form in the wild-card game. He went the distance in blanking the Pirates on five hits and no walks, while striking out eleven. Dexter Fowler scored three runs, Schwarber knocked in three, both homered, and the Cubs won 4-0. 

After the game, manager Joe Maddon was asked if he’d had a maximum pitch count in mind for his ace. “Yes, I did,” he replied. “Infinity.”

Next, the Cubs dispatched the arch-rival Cardinals in the National League Division Series. After dropping the first game 4-0, the Cubs bludgeoned St. Louis pitchers for 20 runs in the next three games, all victories. They also pounded ten home runs, including a monumental shot by Schwarber that landed atop the new video board behind the right-field bleachers at Wrigley.

The Cubs advanced to their first National League Championship Series since 2003 with high hopes and growing respect from all quarters. Alas, they ran into the proverbial buzzsaw in the form of the New York Mets’ outstanding starting rotation. The Cubs were swept out of the postseason in four games.

It was a disappointing end to a thrilling season, but in truth the Cubs had been playing with house money. The rebuild was ahead of schedule, and its ultimate objective was just a year away.

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