Jake Arrieta

BIOGRAPHY

Jake Arrieta was born March 6, 1986, in Farmington, Missouri. He is a pitcher in the MLB.

On July 12, 2015, Arrieta pitched a complete game victory over the Chicago White Sox at Wrigley Field, his second complete game of the season and the third of his major league career. On August 20, Arrieta became the first MLB pitcher to win 15 games in the 2015 season. Ten days later, Arrieta no-hit the Los Angeles Dodgers at Dodger Stadium for the 14th no-hitter in Cubs history. He struck out 12 batters, including all three batters he faced in both the first and ninth innings. Sandy Koufax had been the last pitcher to complete a no-hitter by striking out all three batters he faced in the ninth inning, doing so against the Cubs in his 1965 perfect game—a game also played at Dodger Stadium. Arrieta was named the NL Player of the Week for August 24–30 and NL Pitcher of the Month for August with a 6–0 and a 0.43 ERA and the no-hitter. The right-hander held opposing hitters to a .130 batting average and a .196 on-base percentage in August and struck out 43 batters while walking just 10. On September 22, Arrieta won his 20th game of the season, throwing a three-hitter against the Brewers. With 11 more strikeouts in that 4–0 Cubs victory at Wrigley, he was the first MLB pitcher to win 20 games this season and had his fourth complete game and third shutout of the season.

After the 2015 All-Star break, he gave up 9 earned runs during 15 starts over 107+1⁄3 innings for a 0.75 ERA, the lowest in MLB history in the second half. On October 5, he was again named NL Pitcher of the Month for his 4–0 September record with a 0.45 ERA.

For the season, Arrieta's 22–6 record and 1.77 ERA (second in the NL) made him only the fifth pitcher to win at least 22 games with no more than six losses and a sub-2.00 ERA since the earned run became an official stat in 1913. Arrieta's 2015 season has been widely compared to Bob Gibson's 1968 season in which Gibson won the National League MVP and Cy Young Awards after posting a live-ball era record 1.12 ERA. He led the majors in wins, complete games (4), and shutouts (3), and led the National League in hits per 9 innings pitched (5.895) and games started (33). He also led the majors in lowest home runs per nine innings (0.39). His .786 win-loss percentage and his 0.865 walks plus hits per innings pitched were second in the NL.

Arrieta won the NL Cy Young Award to become the first Cubs pitcher to do so since Greg Maddux in 1992. He was the fifth Cubs winner overall, also joining Fergie Jenkins (1971), Bruce Sutter (1979) and Rick Sutcliffe (1984). He also came in sixth in the voting for 2015 NL Most Valuable Player Award.

On February 5, 2016, Arrieta and the Cubs agreed on a record arbitration deal worth $10.7 million 2016 salary, the largest one-year contract for a second-time arbitration eligible pitcher, topping David Price's $10.1 million salary in 2013. The club chose him as the 2016 season Opening Day starting pitcher against the Angels on April 4.

On April 21, Arrieta pitched his second career no-hitter and the 15th no-hitter in Cubs history against the Cincinnati Reds in a 16–0 blowout win. He walked four and struck out six. Arrieta, who at the time of the no-hitter had not recorded a loss in his previous 17 regular-season starts, became only the second MLB pitcher ever to go unbeaten in regular-season play between no-hitters, with the only other being Johnny Vander Meer, who threw consecutive no-hitters in 1938. The Arizona Diamondbacks defeated Arrieta and the Cubs 3–2 on June 5, even with 12 strikeouts in his first five innings, stopping a 20-game regular season winning streak and giving him his first loss in 11 months.

In 2016, he was 18–8 with a 3.10 ERA (10th in the NL) in 197+1⁄3 innings. He led the league for the second consecutive year with 6.294 hits per 9 innings pitched, his 18 wins were third in the league, his .692 win-loss percentage was sixth, his 1.084 walks plus hits per innings pitched and 0.730 home runs per 9 innings pitched were seventh, his 190 strikeouts and 197+1⁄3 innings pitched were eighth, and his 8.666 strikeouts per 9 innings pitched were tenth. He won a Silver Slugger Award after batting .262/.304/.415 with 2 home runs and 7 RBIs in 65 at bats, and came in ninth in voting for the 2016 NL Cy Young Award.

In Game 3 of the 2016 NLDS, Arrieta hit a three-run home run off of San Francisco Giants' pitcher Madison Bumgarner, the first time that a pitcher hit a home run off Bumgarner, which ended Bumgarner's consecutive playoff scoreless innings streak of over 24 innings. Arrieta won Game 2 and Game 6 of the 2016 World Series. The Cubs won Game 7 of the series 8–7 in 10 innings, giving them their first World Series title after a 108-year drought.