It only makes sense that, since Jake Arrieta was the National League’s pitcher of the year in 2015, he should carry that streak over into April of 2016.
So it is, as today, the Chicago Cubs ace was named the NL’s Pitcher of the Month for April after finishing with a fantastic series of numbers –Â 1.00 ERA, 2.85 FIP, 3.06 xFIP, 0.9 WAR, 36.0 IP, 32 Ks, 10 BBs – and, of course, a no-hitter.
[adinserter block=”1″]You could probably argue that there were some other pitchers who had equally compelling months – all of Clayton Kershaw, Noah Syndergaard, and Stephen Strasburg were ridiculous – but it’s hard to not to choose the guy who was basically perfect and also threw a no-hitter. Oh, and hey, Arrieta also posted a .231/.286/.462 batting line with a monster homer.
Tomorrow, when he faces the Pirates in Pittsburgh for the first time since he shut them out in the Wild Card Game, Arrieta will have a chance to start working on his NL Pitcher of the Month honors for May.