Your flurry of feverishly-awaited updates on Cubs starter Jake Arrieta dropped shortly after today’s loss to the Pirates.
Arrieta left today’s game in the third inning after coming up wobbling following a pitch, and then grimacing badly on an attempted warm-up pitch.
For now, everyone is hopeful it’s just a cramping situation:
Maddon says "kind of a cramp" re Arrieta. Grabbed on him but hoping it's not much more than that.
— Jesse Rogers (@ESPNChiCubs) September 4, 2017
Jake said he feels good right now but will re-evaluate in the morning and decide if MRI is needed. Said he feels like he'll make next start
— Sahadev Sharma (@sahadevsharma) September 4, 2017
Cubs waiting overnight to label injury. Calling it tightness for now. Hoping it was cramp. Arrieta said it "grabbed" but no pop.
— Gordon Wittenmyer (@GDubCub) September 4, 2017
Watch Jake Arrieta discuss his right leg ailment after he left Monday's game in the… https://t.co/AiSg41QFpH pic.twitter.com/ud9Bv1vAlg
— Jesse Rogers (@ESPNChiCubs) September 4, 2017
The good news is that what we have here is not *obviously* a strained hamstring. For example, with Willson Contreras, everyone knew that hammy was strained from the get-go, and the only waiting game we played was about just how badly it was strained.
Here, at least there’s a chance it really was just a cramping situation (which can completely eliminate a pitcher’s ability to deliver and can be quite painful).
Things you don’t love in Arrieta’s comments in the ESPN video: he’s never had something like this before, and he wasn’t feeling anything in his leg until that one awry pitch to Josh Bell. That makes you feel a little less confident that this is just a cramping thing that he deals with from time to time … but that doesn’t mean it’s not a cramp! I’m not here to play doctor. I’m just saying your dream scenario in a situation like this is a guy like Jason Hammel, who knew almost immediately that this was a cramp, because it was something he dealt with.
Even if Arrieta goes for the MRI tomorrow morning, that won’t necessarily mean his season is over. If that happens, I’d probably rule out his next start, though, especially with Mike Montgomery already effectively in the rotation.
If Arrieta has a strained hamstring, even a mild one, it would put the rest of the regular season and the start of the postseason in doubt. They simply don’t recover for players short of four weeks or so at the earliest. If it’s just a bad cramp and the Cubs want to be extra cautious, though, maybe Arrieta is back after sitting for a few extra days.
For now, we cross our fingers, and see what the morning brings.