Jake Arrieta

Jacob Joseph Arrieta (born March 6, 1986) is an American professional baseball pitcher for the Chicago Cubs of Major League Baseball (MLB). He previously played for the Baltimore Orioles and Philadelphia Phillies.
Arrieta played college baseball at Weatherford Junior College and at Texas Christian University (TCU). He was an All-American and was named Mountain West Conference Pitcher of the Year at TCU. The Orioles selected Arrieta in the fifth round of the 2007 MLB draft, and he signed a then record contract for a fifth round draft pick. He pitched for the United States national baseball team at the 2008 Summer Olympics, winning the bronze medal.
He made his big league debut for the Orioles in 2010, and after four seasons Arrieta was traded to the Cubs in 2013. In 2015, Arrieta led MLB in wins with 22, pitched a no-hitter, and won the 2015 National League Cy Young Award. In 2016, he was an NL All Star, threw his second no-hitter, was awarded a Silver Slugger Award, and won a World Series with the Cubs.
Prior to the start of the 2018 season, Arrieta signed a three-year, $75 million contract as a free agent with the Phillies. In August 2019, it was announced that he would have season-ending surgery to remove a bone spur in his pitching elbow. He returned to the starting rotation with the Phillies for the shortened 2020 season.
Amateur career.
Arrieta was born in Farmington, Missouri, to Lou and Lynda Arrieta. They moved to Texas four months after Arrieta was born, and he grew up in Plano, Texas, where he attended Plano East Senior High School. He was 6–1 with a 1.61 ERA as a junior, and 5–4 with a 1.30 ERA as a senior. As a high school senior he was selected by the Cincinnati Reds in the 31st round of the 2004 draft, but instead he chose to attend college.
Arrieta attended Weatherford Junior College for his freshman year in 2005, posting a 6–2 win-loss record with a 3.43 ERA. Following his freshman year, Arrieta was selected by the Milwaukee Brewers in the 26th round of the 2005 Major League Baseball draft.
Instead, he opted to transfer to Texas Christian University (TCU), where he played for the TCU Horned Frogs baseball team for his sophomore and junior seasons, and studied sport psychology. During the summer of 2005, prior to enrolling at TCU, Arrieta participated in summer collegiate baseball with the McKinney Marshalls of the Texas Collegiate League, and posted a 4–3 record in 10 starts with a 1.87 ERA over innings pitched. During his sophomore year in 2006, Arrieta led college baseball with 14 wins and had a 2.35 ERA over 19 appearances, and he had 111 strikeouts in 111 innings. He won the Mountain West Conference Pitcher of the Year Award and was named a Second-Team College Baseball All-American after his sophomore year.
In 2007, his junior year, he was 9–3 with a 3.01 ERA. He was named First-team All-Mountain West in 2007.
Arrieta first joined the United States national baseball team in 2006, and helped the team win the World University Baseball Championship in Cuba. He was 4–0 with 34 strikeouts and a 0.27 ERA—allowing just one earned run in 35 innings pitched over six starts for the team. In his first start at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, Arrieta pitched six innings and struck out seven in Team USA's 9–1 victory over the China national baseball team.
Professional career.
Draft and minors.
The Baltimore Orioles selected Arrieta in the fifth round of the 2007 Major League Baseball draft. He signed with the Orioles for a $1.1 million signing bonus, which at the time was the largest signing bonus for a fifth round draft pick.
Arrieta made his professional debut in the Arizona Fall League with the Phoenix Desert Dogs in 2007. He posted 16 scoreless innings, while striking out 16 over 14 appearances, and helped lead the Desert Dogs to the Arizona League championship.
Arrieta pitched to a 6–5 record with a 2.87 ERA and 120 strikeouts over 113 innings for the Frederick Keys of the Class A-Advanced Carolina League when his season ended in order to allow him to play for the USA Baseball team at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing.
Baltimore Orioles (2010–2013).
Arrieta made his major league debut on June 10, 2010, against the New York Yankees at Camden Yards. He pitched six innings, giving up four hits and three runs, striking out six and earning the win. For the 2010 season, he was 6–6 with a 4.66 ERA in innings.
He won the home opener for the Orioles in 2011, and was the youngest opening day starting pitcher for the Orioles since Mike Mussina in 1994. In 2011, he was 10–8 with a 5.05 ERA in innings. Arrieta was again named the opening day starter for the Orioles in 2012. After starting the 2012 season 3–9 with an ERA of 6.13, Arrieta was demoted to Triple-A on July 6, 2012.
Arrieta began the 2013 season with four starts for the Orioles posting a 1–1 record and a 6.63 ERA until being sent down to the Triple-A Norfolk Tides on April 22 after the Orioles recalled Alex Burnett. He was recalled by the Orioles on May 18 and later optioned back down to Triple-A to make room for Kevin Gausman on May 23. He was recalled again on June 14 and Gausman was optioned to Triple-A to make room on the roster for Arrieta. In 2013 with Baltimore, he was 1–2 with a 7.23 ERA in innings. Through four years with the Orioles, Arrieta posted a record of 20–25 and a 5.46 ERA in 358 innings.
Chicago Cubs (2013–2017).
2013.
On July 2, 2013, the Orioles traded Arrieta along with Pedro Strop to the Chicago Cubs for Scott Feldman and Steve Clevenger. He was optioned to the Iowa Cubs of the Class AAA Pacific Coast League upon being acquired. After making 5 starts for Iowa, Arrieta was recalled to start Game 2 of a doubleheader against the Brewers on July 30. In his Chicago debut, he gave up 1 run in 6 innings, earning a no-decision in the 3–2 loss. After the game, Arrieta was optioned to Iowa where he made two more starts before being recalled on August 14 to replace Carlos Villanueva in the rotation. He made eight more starts before the end of the season. In his nine starts with Chicago, he went 4–2 with a 3.66 ERA, striking out 37 in innings. In 30 games (29 starts) in 2013 including the minors, Arrieta went 12–9 with a 4.42 ERA, striking out 137 in innings.
2014.
Arrieta took no-hitters into the seventh or eighth innings three times in the 2014 season. On June 24, Arrieta retired the first 18 Reds in order, but the perfect game was broken up by Cincinnati's Billy Hamilton's leadoff double in the seventh. On June 30, against the Red Sox, Arrieta took a no-hitter into the 8th until Stephen Drew singled with two outs the inning.
For the 2014 season, he posted a 10–5 record with a 2.53 ERA, and in innings he gave up 114 hits, walked 41, and struck out 167. He came in 9th in voting for the National League Cy Young Award.
2015.
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 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 started the 2015 National League Wild Card Game, He pitched a complete-game shutout, striking out 11 batters and allowed only four hits to defeat the Pittsburgh Pirates 4–0. He became the first pitcher to post a postseason shutout while striking out at least 10 batters and walking zero. He is also the first pitcher to have more stolen bases than runs scored in a postseason game when he stole second base in the top of the 7th inning. Arrieta was the pitcher of record in the Game 2 loss of the 2015 National League Championship Series to the New York Mets.
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.
2016.
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 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 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.
2017.
On January 13, 2017, he agreed to a contract for the 2017 baseball season. He was NL Pitcher of the Month in August.
In 2017, Arrieta made 30 starts with a 14–10 record and a 3.53 ERA (eighth in the National League) in innings. He threw 14 wild pitches, tied for most in the National League, his 10 hit by pitch were 5th in the NL, and his 8.020 hits per 9 innings pitched and 1.218 walks plus hits per 9 innings pitched were tenth in the league. The Cubs finished the season 92–70 and clinched another NL Central division title.
Arrieta started Game four of the 2017 NLDS and, after 90 pitches, left in the fourth inning trailing 1–0. The Cubs and Arrieta lost that game to the Washington Nationals but won Game Five and moved on to the 2017 NLCS. After three losses and facing elimination, Arrieta was the starter and winning pitcher in a Game Four victory against the Dodgers. After the Cubs season ended in a Game Five loss to the Dodgers, Arrieta declined the Cubs' $17.4 million qualifying offer and became a free agent for the first time in his career.
Philadelphia Phillies (2018–2020).
2018.
On March 11, 2018, Arrieta agreed to a three-year, $75 million contract with the Philadelphia Phillies. He tore cartilage in his left knee in June, but did not tell the front office and was 1-5 with a 6.35 ERA over his last nine starts. For the season, he was 10–11 with a 3.96 ERA in innings. He was second in the league in wild pitches (11), second among NL pitchers in errors (4), and third in the NL in salary ($30 million). He had the highest ground ball percentage among National League pitchers (51.6%), and induced a career-high 22 ground ball double plays, tied for 6th-most in Major League Baseball. For the fourth consecutive season he made 30 or more starts, one of seven NL pitchers to do so in that time period. On defense, he had the lowest fielding percentage of all major league pitchers with 170 or more innings pitched, at .862. After the 2018 season concluded, he was sixth of all active pitchers in career hits per 9 innings pitched (7.551).
2019.
In January 2019, he had an MRI on his injured left knee and a surgical procedure to clean up the meniscus in his knee. On August 17 it was announced that Arrieta would have season-ending surgery to remove a bone spur in his right pitching elbow. In 2019 he was 8-8 with a 4.64 ERA, and 110 strikeouts in 135.2 innings.
Through 2019, Arrieta was 8th of all active pitchers in career hits-per-9-innings-pitched, at 7.767.
2020.
During the shortened 2020 season, new Phillies manager Joe Girardi returned Arrieta to the starting rotation. Over nine starts, Arrieta was 4–4 with a 5.08 ERA in innings.
Second stint with Chicago Cubs (2021-present).
On February 13, 2021, Arrieta agreed to a 1-year, $6 million contract to return to the Chicago Cubs. The contract includes a mutual option for the 2022 season.
Pitching style.
Arrieta throws five different pitches. He throws a four-seam fastball, two-seam fastball, slider/cutter, curveball, and a changeup. His fastball averages around 93–94 mph, sometimes reaching upper-90s mph. He relies on ground balls and swinging strikes. His slider averages with late break peaking out at and his curve sits at with two-plane break. His changeup has tailing motion like a two-seam fastball and ranges from . Arrieta noticeably pitches across his body.
Personal life.
During the offseason, Arrieta lives in Austin, Texas, with his wife, Brittany, and their two children. He is known as a "workout freak" and uses cross-training in his workouts. Arrieta does pilates and incorporates kale juice, nuts, and fruits into his diet. Arrieta's maternal grandfather is of Puerto Rican ancestry. The surname "Arrieta" is of Basque origin. Arrieta served as a groomsman for former TCU teammate Matt Carpenter's wedding on December 10, 2011.
In 2012, Arrieta appeared in the HBO television show "Veep", alongside Orioles teammate Tommy Hunter. In 2017, Arrieta appeared in an episode of "Chicago Fire" alongside Cubs teammate Kris Bryant.