Jake Arrieta Getting the Ovations He Deserves and Other Bullets

jake arrieta beard featureIt took fewer than three days: one of our cats already chewed through the power cord to my new computer. Why do you do this? Why no other cords? Literally just the power cord to my last two computers. Little monster. Love you. But little monster.

  • Jake Arrieta threw another solid 7.2 inning yesterday, holding the Giants to just four hits, two walks, and no runs, while striking out six. The guy has become so good that you almost start to nit-pick and say that he didn’t look his best … but even if that’s true, he still shut down one of the best offenses in the National League. That’s how good Arrieta is right now.
  • Checking in on just how good: Arrieta’s 4.1 WAR is 8th best in baseball (4th in the NL), tied with a guy named David Price. His 2.38 ERA is 6th best (3rd in the NL), his 2.65 FIP is tied for 8th best in baseball (4th in the NL), and his 2.85 xFIP is 7th in baseball (2nd in the NL). Arrieta is now a pretty obvious Cy Young contender, though because of his ERA (1.71) and record (11-2), Zack Greinke is going to run away with the thing if he doesn’t fall off too badly. The awards don’t really matter (though it would bump up Arrieta’s next arbitration salary considerably (whatever, he deserves it)), but it’s still fun.
  • Bonus: Arrieta, who tripled yesterday, is the 17th best hitting pitcher in baseball by wRC+ (min. 40 PAs) … at -6. Gotta work on that 52.8% K rate, dude.
  • But seriously, the best part about yesterday was the deafening ovation Arrieta received as he left the game – he later said it was the biggest he’s heard since his near no-hitter in Boston last year (CSN). You can watch highlights from Arrieta’s game, including the ovation:
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  • And speaking of that ovation, it was like that for the entire series: loud, energized, and a little unhinged. A security guard told me he hasn’t seen it like that since 2008, and this was probably even crazier. Need some data on that point? The Cubs came just shy of setting a new four-game attendance record this weekend (Miles). That record was set, of course, in 2008 – a year in which the Cubs dominated, and which came after a playoff run in 2007. In other words, that record is almost certainly going to fall very soon.
  • A must-read from Sahadev Sharma on Kris Bryant and the low strike.
  • If you missed anything from the weekend, catch up here. If you missed any minor league stuff, catch up here.
  • I checked in on the standings and the various playoff competitors earlier today if you are just now stopping by.
  • written by

    Brett Taylor is the Lead Cubs Writer at Bleacher Nation, and you can find him on Twitter at @BleacherNation and on LinkedIn here. Brett is also the founder of Bleacher Nation, which opened up shop in 2008 as an independent blog about the Chicago Cubs. Later growing to incorporate coverage of other Chicago sports, Bleacher Nation is now one of the largest regional sports blogs on the web.

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