Chicago Cubs: Choosing between Jake Arrieta and Shohei Otani

Chicago Cubs: Who will prove more productive?

Jake Arrieta is one of the most respected hitting pitchers in baseball. He’s enjoyed some success in 295 total at-bats, slugging five home runs with 20 RBI. Those go with a (for a pitcher) respectable  .175 batting average.

Otani is a regular fielder when he’s not pitching and is an above-average hitter. The Japanese star has the edge with the bat, but Arrieta is a better pitcher. Let’s not disregard the fact that Otani is playing on a different continent in a different league.

It’s irresponsible to compare the Japanese Pacific League to the Majors. There have been a number of Japanese players who have preformed well in North America; Ichiro Suzuki, Hideki Matsui and Yu Darvish for example, but there have also been overrated names in the mix; Daisuke Matsuzaka, Kazuo Matsui and Kosuke Fukudome.

There’s simply no way to predict who can make the switch. Arrieta is an established presence in the Major Leagues and is a consistent winner.