Chicago Cubs: A reunion with Jake Arrieta is a must

Health and durability

Since joining the Cubs, Arrieta has been a horse. After firing a career-high 156 2/3 innings in 2014, the Cubs rode Arrieta for 229 innings in 2015. Of course, that was the year Arrieta won his Cy Young award and the first year of the Cubs return to the postseason. That return to October put 19 2/3 innings of extra work on Arrieta’s arm in 2015, bringing his total for the year up to 248 2/3 innings.

Despite that heavy workload, Arrieta made 31 starts in 2016, finishing just shy of 200 innings at 197 1/3. Once again, the Cubs made the postseason, due in part to Arrieta’s All-Star worthy performance. In the postseason, Arrieta tossed 22 1/3 additional innings, capping off another 200+ inning season (219 2/3).

After racking up 468 1/3 innings over two years, something was destined to go wrong in 2017. Even though the toll of a long 2016 season showed through the early part of the 2017 season, Arrieta remained healthy until a hamstring injury sidelined him for two starts in September.

Even after suffering that injury, Arrieta bounced back, posting a 0.84 ERA in his two postseason starts.

The Cubs need to re-sign Arrieta

In case you haven’t figured it out by now, I’m completely on board with the Cubs bringing back Arrieta. Before, when he was wanting $200 million, I was less on board, but now that the market has brought down Arrieta’s value, he would make sense for the Cubs.

Why bring in a pitcher that has had Tommy John surgery and who is not familiar with the surroundings when you have a stud pitcher who takes care of his body and been with the team for years available also?

To me, it seems like a very smart move to sign Arrieta to a four-year deal and allow him to be a middle of the rotation arm in what would become one of the best rotations in baseball.

Next: Chicago Cubs: Be happy guys, things are pretty, pretty good

Despite my opinion, Theo and company will do whatever they feel is right for this team’s future. For that reason, fans should not be worried about the free agent market. Just sit back and enjoy the ride Cubs’ fans, you’ve earned it.