Chicago Cubs: Breaking down Jake Arrieta’s ineffectiveness in 2017

One of the biggest holes in the 2017 Chicago Cubs comes in the form of Jake Arrieta. The right-hander hasn’t pitched well, leaving a void in the staff.

Down the stretch in 2015, Chicago Cubs right-hander Jake Arrieta put together arguably the best second-half in Major League Baseball history. En route to the National League Cy Young Award, Arrieta went 13-1 with a 1.60 ERA after the All-Star Break.

That dominance continued into the early months of last season. In April and May, Arrieta combined for a 9-0 record with a sub-2.00 earned run average in 11 starts. He looked poised to repeat as the league’s best hurler.

More from Cubbies Crib

• Cubs should keep close eye on non-tender candidate Cody Bellinger
• Cubs starting pitching has been thriving on the North Side
• Make no mistake: the Cubs are very much about power hitters
• Cubs are giving pitcher Javier Assad a deserved shot
• Cubs: It’s time to start thinking about potential September call-ups

But, soon, he took a step backward. The rest of the season, he never posted a single-month ERA below 3.00 and his strikeout-to-walk ratio trended downward from 2015. He stepped up in a big way come October, though, helping lead the Cubs to a World Series title.

Entering a contract year, 2017 may be the single most-important season in Arrieta’s big-league career. And, suffice to say, it hasn’t gone as he had hoped.

Arrieta gets the call on Sunday in the series finale against the Cardinals. Carrying a 5.35 ERA into that outing, clearly something has to change if he hopes to land the mega-deal he was seeking this winter.

So why the decline for the hard-working right-hander? Let’s look at what the numbers say, in hopes of uncovering a way forward for the Chicago ace.