Chicago Cubs: What Jake Arrieta might have meant to the 2018 team

Chicago Cubs: Bringing consistency to the mix

First and foremost? Stability. Since Jake Arrieta put on the Philadelphia Phillies uniform, he’s gone 9-9 with a 3.54 ERA. He’s thrown 147 1/3  innings, struck out 109 and Philly has gone 13-13 in games he’s pitched in.

Arrieta would not only bring a stable arm to the Cubs rotation, but a healthy one too, as he hasn’t hit the DL this season. Compare this to the likes of Tyler Chatwood, Mike Montgomery and Yu Darvish, who have combined for an ERA of 4.53 and four stints on the DL – including one of the season-ending variety.

Next, he could have brought some relief to an overtaxed Cubs pen. Both Montgomery and Chatwood combined are averaging 4.99 innings pitched in games started, while Arrieta is averaging 5.66 innings per start.

Adding the former ace would give the Cubs almost an extra inning per start, and when it adds up that’s a lot more rest for the bullpen. He’s started 26 games in 2018, which would rank third amongst Cubs hurlers. This would allow for Chicago arms to be more effective and rested down the stretch, helping immensely in the home stretch. Arrieta would allow the Cubs to add Montgomery back to the bullpen, giving them a badly-needed lefty reliever and improving their fleet of arms.