Chicago Cubs: Celebrating the historic achievements of Jake Arrieta

Cy Young pitcher, home run hitter

Last season, Jake Arrieta was a 1.0 WAR player – with the bat.

That’s a staggering number for a pitcher, but if you watched his at-bats every day, it hardly comes as a surprise. Even in the postseason, Arrieta was on-point.

In the National League Division Series, the reigning Cy Young winner stepped up – and delivered. With Madison Bumgarner on the hill in a tied game, Arrieta took the southpaw deep.

Before that at-bat, Madison Bumgarner had never allowed a home run to an opposing pitcher. We’re not just talking about in postseason play, where he’s been utterly dominant. In his entire big-league career, MadBum had never allowed a long-ball to his opposite number.

The blast was Arrieta’s fourth career home run and his first postseason knock. Not a bad way to break into the hit column for a postseason career, eh?