If you looked only at the earned run total today from the Cubs’ win over the Pirates, you might assume Jake Arrieta was pretty good, but not crazy good. After all, with two earned runs given up over eight innings, his ERA actually rose from 1.13 to 1.29 (which, by the way, LOL).
But even if he had some better run total outputs in recent weeks – including his no-hitter against the Reds – I’m not so sure he wasn’t better today than he’s been at any point this season.
Arrieta’s 11 strikeouts today were a season high (by 3). His 12 whiffs today were tied with the no-hitter for his second most on the season, behind only the 13 he got against a woefully weaker Brewers lineup two weeks ago. These Pirates have the second lowest strikeout rate in the NL![adinserter block=”1″]
For what it’s worth, Len Kasper also said that he and Jim Deshaies believe that was Arrieta’s best stuff all year.
Outside of a minor loss of command in the 4th inning today, Arrieta was basically perfect, carving up one of the best offensive teams in the league.
Watch and enjoy:
Your browser does not support iframes.
Your browser does not support iframes.
[adinserter block=”2″]