The Cubs got beat up on by the Brewers today 8-3, with Jake Arrieta giving up a couple early, and four runs coming off of Craig Kimbrel, who really struggled (we’ll have to talk about him separately – he didn’t get any help behind him, but the wildness was all on him). Arrieta didn’t really look all that bad again, mostly taking the form of a serviceable starter while throwing out an occasionally very Hendricks-ian pitch:
Jake Arrieta, Wicked Curveball…and Sword. ⚔️ pic.twitter.com/butIe1IPEk
— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) March 12, 2021
Jake Arrieta, Nasty Front Hip Changeup. 👌 pic.twitter.com/g63Bt2L33h
— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) March 12, 2021
Basically, it was the kind of performance you’d be fine with the Cubs getting from Arrieta for most of the year. Serviceable. Acceptable. Chance to win.
Cubs starter Jake Arrieta, on his latest outing. Built up to 55 pitches and worked with some traffic, while continuing to focus on mechanical adjustments. pic.twitter.com/1wxRZPQk4q
— Jordan Bastian (@MLBastian) March 12, 2021
So, anyway, Cubs got smoked. But come on. How could you expect them to compete seriously when this absolute unit was out there in charge:
In case you were wondering: Dan Vogelbach is still a Lad. pic.twitter.com/8iU90nqNVp
— Bleacher Nation (@BleacherNation) March 12, 2021
The dude looks like a Boy Scout troop got together Voltron style, lifting weights for a month straight and housing an entire Old Country Buffet. You aren’t beat that at baseball or any other sport. Be warned, NL Central.
Joc Pederson got tired of hitting homers:
Joc smoked this. pic.twitter.com/bTHYsBBvih
— Marquee Sports Network (@WatchMarquee) March 12, 2021
Javy Báez turned goofs into awesome plays, as he does:
Javy doing Javy things. pic.twitter.com/zLaMvYGqs2
— Chicago Cubs (@Cubs) March 12, 2021