It seems like a lifetime ago since Jake Arrieta established himself as a dominating force for the Chicago Cubs.
After all, since the Cubs won the World Series in 2016, it feels like a lifetime since this team has been relevant in general. The happy days are over, and fans are growing increasingly frustrated and cynical in regards to how ownership is operating.
We can talk all day and night about how Ricketts is pulling the rug from underneath the Cubs, and has been for a couple of years now. Refusing to make notable moves or spend any significant cash, Ricketts seems to be completely satisfied with one World Series title for the rest of his life.
The magical 2016 campaign which featured Arrieta’s prime self is long gone, and ownership could care less about bringing that feeling back.
Although those times are in the rear view, at least one familiarity returns to Chicago, and that’s Arrieta.
From 2013-2017, Arrieta became one of baseball’s best pitchers. He won the NL Cy Young in 2015, and then in the year after, helped the Cubs win the whole thing in a historically-exciting fashion over the Cleveland Indians.
After the 2017 season, Arrieta signed with the Philadelphia Phillies. For the next three years, he would not only see his production dip, but his health, too. It was quite sad, actually, to see a once-elite pitcher like Arrieta to go down such a tough road.
In Philadelphia, Arrieta had to deal with meniscus problems as well as bone spurs. His health declined significantly, and that contributed to his ERA shooting upwards.
Now that he’s back with the Cubs, all of the reports talk about Arrieta having something to prove.
“There’s always things to prove. Not that it’s in a negative way. It’s really just to prove I’m capable of performing at a high level. The level I expect to perform at. The last three years weren’t to my expectations.” (Via ESPN)
Cubs manager David Ross told ESPN he still believes Arrieta can be a top-of-the-rotation type of pitcher. Believe that if you dare, but after seeing Yu Darvish leave Chicago, the Cubs might need just a tad more than an aging Arrieta coming off a couple of injury-ridden seasons.
That’s an understatement.
In any event, it feels great to have Arrieta home. From everything he’s said, this is where Arrieta wanted to be all along. He wanted to be back in Chicago, playing for a manager who once caught one of his no-hitters. That’s pretty special.
We will see if Arrieta can return to form, even in the slightest. If he’s healthy, which he says he is, there is no reason he can’t become a respectable starter once again. Will he be an All Star? Not likely. But, could he be a healthy contributor? That’s what we’re hoping for.
