By Jordan Long
Free agent Jake Arrieta hasn’t pitched this year. Teams didn’t seem interested in signing him. He saw the writing on the wall and decided to retire from Major League Baseball.
Arrieta started his MLB career in Baltimore during the 2010 season. That year, Arrieta was 6-6 with an ERA of 4.66. This was just a hint of things to come for him in the Majors. In 2011 he went 10-8 with an ERA of 5.05. 2012, his record was a disappointing 3-9 with an ERA of 6.20. 2013, he started 5 games with Baltimore before being traded to the Chicago Cubs on July 2, 2013. Arrieta’s record for Baltimore in 2013 was 1-2 with an ERA of 7.23.
The change to Chicago was great for Arrieta. He finished 2013 with a record of 4-2 with an ERA of 3.66. In 2014 his ERA dropped to 2.53. 2015, Arrieta had his best record going 22-6 which stands as his career high in wins. His ERA was 1.77. The Cubs went all the way to the National League Championship Series that season but were swept by the New York Mets. During that playoff run, Arrieta was 2-1 with an ERA of 3.66. For his play in the regular season, Arrieta won the Cy Young as the best pitcher in the National League.
2016, Arrieta kept up his pitching going 18-8. The Cubs earned a playoff spot and were the best team in baseball with a record of 103-58. In the postseason, they knocked off the San Francisco Giants and the L.A. Dodgers to reach the World Series for the first time since 1945. Standing in their way of a World Series title were the Cleveland Indians. The Cubs were down 3-1 in the series but stormed back to win the next 3 including game 7 in extra innings 8-7 to claim the first World Series for the Cubs since 1908. This ended the curse of the “Billy Goat” as well. Arrieta’s record in that postseason was 2-1 with an ERA of 3.63.
2017 Arrieta ended 14-10. His era was 3.53. Arrieta hit free agency. He could have come back to Chicago but declined a qualifying offer which would have paid him $17.4 million for 2017. Arrieta decided to sign with the Philadelphia Phillies. It was a 3 year deal worth $75 million. He wasn’t the same pitcher in Philadelphia. In his 3 years with Philadelphia, Arrieta was a disappointing 22-23 with an ERA of 4.36. Philadelphia let him go once his contract was up.
The Cubs signed him to a 1-year deal for the 2021 season. He was clearly not the same pitcher as years past with a record of 5-11 and an ERA of 6.88. On August 12, 2021 the Cubs released Arrieta. He wasn’t out of work long as the Padres signed him for the remainder of the season. He went 0-3 for the Padres with an ERA of 10.95.
Arrieta waited to see if a team would want to sign him this offseason. He saw that there wasn’t a team calling him so, he decided to retire. According to chicagotribune.com, Arrieta said, “I haven’t signed the papers, man, but I’m done. It’s time for me to step away from the game. At some point the uniform goes to somebody else and it’s just my time, really.”
Arrieta leaves the game with a record of 115-93. His career ERA ended at 3.98. Pitchers want to pitch in important games. Arrieta did so, starting in 9 playoff games with a record of 5-3. He helped the Cubs win the World Series in 2016. Besides a World Series victory, Arrieta pitched 2 no-hitters with the Cubs. It was best for him to walk away. Arrieta may not be inducted into Coopers Town but he will go down as one of the top pitchers in Cubs’ history
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