Jake Arrieta Had a Dominant First Half

jake arrieta beard featureAlthough he was not named an All-Star this year (because he pitched on Sunday, he would have been ineligible to pitch in the game anyway, but still), Jake Arrieta sure pitched like one in the first half of the season.

He capped off another dominant run for the Cubs with a two-hit, no-walk complete game against the White Sox, striking out nine. It was just your typical filthy Arrieta outing, complete with a home run of his own on an 0-2 pitch.

Check out the highlights:

In the 9th inning, Arrieta struck out the side. Dude is silly good.

For the first half, Arrieta’s numbers stack up thusly:

  • 121.2 innings over 18 starts, including two complete games.
  • 123 strikeouts against just 25 walks. His 26.1% strikeout rate is down slightly from 2014 (27.2%), but his 5.3% walk rate is way down from 2014 (6.7%).
  • Arrieta’s 2.66 ERA is 14th best in baseball.
  • Arrieta’s 2.60 FIP is 5th best in baseball.
  • Arrieta’s 2.72 xFIP is 7th best in baseball.
  • Arrieta’s 3.4 WAR is 5th most among pitchers, 18th most among all players.
  • 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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