Chicago Cubs: Jake Arrieta’s place amongst all-time team greats

A star-studded list of Cubs hurlers

(Cubs historians will note I don’t list any seasons prior to 1921 from the Dead Ball Era. The huge differences in the game make it near impossible to compare the above seasons to, say, John Clarkson’s 1889 when he started 72 games and pitched 620 innings.)

Name (Year)            W-L       ERA    CG        IP        SO     ERA+    FIP      WHIP     K/9    WAR
Jenkins (1971)       24-13    2.77    30     325.0    263    141     2.38     1.049      7.3    10.3
Ellsworth (1963)   22-10    2.11    19    290.2     185    167     2.63     1.025      5.7    10.2
Reuschel (1977)    20-10    2.79     8      252.0    166    158     3.03     1.218      5.9       9.4
Maddux (1992)      20-11    2.18     9      268.0    199    166     2.58     1.011      6.7       9.2
Arrieta (2015)        22-6       1.77     4      229.0    236    215     2.35     0.865      9.3       8.7
Lee (1938)               22-9      2.66    19     291.0    121    144     3.68     1.220      8.7      7.9
Werneke (1932)    22-6       2.37    25    277.0     106    160     3.53     1.123      3.4      7.0
Sutter (1977)          7-3        1.34      0     107.1      69      328     1.61     0.857   10.8      6.5
Sutcliffe (1984)     16-1       2.69      0     150.1     155    144     2.28     1.078      9.3      3.9

Let’s dig a little deeper

First, let’s deal with Sutter and that crazy high ERA+. His 107 innings show he was more than just a one-inning specialist. However as a closer, his numbers are skewed as he normally would not any hitter twice in a game.

So it feels fair to eliminate Sutter for throwing 120 fewer innings than Arrieta. But does this mean Jake’s 2015 performance is somewhat diminished for having thrown nearly 100 fewer innings that Jenkins in 1971?

Simple answer: of course. Jenkins easily tops this list largely because of that raft of highly effective innings pitched. Not only did Jenkins complete 30 of a league-leading 39 starts, he handled nearly one-quarter (22.5%) of all Cubs innings that year. So even though he has the lowest ERA+ on this list, in proper context, his numbers pop even more impressively.