Chicago Cubs: Top five single-season performances of the last five years

Chicago Cubs: #1 – Arrieta takes it to otherworldly heights in 2015

We’ll likely never see another run of dominance comparable to what Jake Arrieta put together in 2015, especially in the second half. The nail in the coffin? Silencing a raucous PNC Park crown with a complete game, five-hit shutout for the Cubs’ first postseason win since 2003.

That start announced to the baseball world Chicago’s arrival as a force to be reckoned with. But what Arrieta did to that point made even a louder statement – once that will live on in record books and the memories of those of us who watched him work that year.

His 0.75 second-half ERA wasn’t just great – it was the best ever. His 1.77 ERA on the year? Yeah, that hadn’t been accomplished by a Cubs hurler in nearly a century. Arrieta led all of baseball with four complete games, including three shutouts. While wins aren’t everything – especially in today’s world, he led all big leaguers with 22 wins along with a 5.9 H/9 and 0.4 HR/9.

I don’t know if we’ll ever see anything like what we saw from Arrieta again. I’m not even 30 yet – so that’s saying a lot. But the simple truth is this: he was that good. He didn’t just dominate – he wrote the book on what domination looks like for Cubs fans.