10 best single season performances by Chicago Cubs players in the last decade

1. Jake Arrieta 2015

There was a stretch of time where Jake Arrieta looked inhuman on the mound. From June of 2015 to June of 2016, the man put up a god-like 1.13 in 30 starts. In two of those games, he was literally untouchable, as he collected a couple of no-hitters against the Dodgers and Reds respectively. But the Cy Young-winning 2015 season remains the crown jewel of Arrieta's career, as it was possibly one of the greatest pitching performances we will ever see a Cub perform.
Over a beefy 229 innings, Arrieta's final ERA in 2015 was an almost unrealistic 1.77, with a WHIP of 0.86 and a league-leading BAA of .185 to boot. From the All-Star break on, the man posted a 12-1 record with a 0.75 ERA in.

But the most legendary game Arrieta threw that year was not his no-hitter against the Dodgers, but his complete game shutout against the Pirates in the Wild Card game. Even though the Cubs won an impressive 96 games in 2015, they found themselves in 3rd place behind the St. Louis Cardinals and Pittsburgh Pirates, spawning a division rival Wild Card game against the Buccos. On the ride to Pennsylvania, Arrieta allegedly made an announcement on the plane's PA system, where he assured his teammates that the Pirates were not winning that game. And he proceeded to deliver a dominant 11 strikeout gem to overpower a Pirates lineup that included Andrew McCutchen in his prime, and send the Cubs to the NLDS.