Since this is my last edition of Extra Innings, I want to reflect on one of my favorite baseball memories, which turns 10 years old this year.
In 2015, three pitchers — Jake Arrieta of the Chicago Cubs and Zack Greinke and Clayton Kershaw of the Los Angeles Dodgers — each had legendary seasons on the mound. But only one could take home the National League’s Cy Young Award.
That combination of names is remarkable enough. Kershaw is one of the greatest pitchers of all time, and Greinke should be a Hall of Famer himself. Arrieta, on the other hand, was relatively unknown entering 2015, and although he had success from 2014 to 2018, he would have likely been lost to history if not for this race.
Kershaw was at the height of his dominance in 2015, having won the NL Cy Young title in three of the previous four seasons. In 2015, he reached the 300 strikeout mark for the first and only time in his career while managing a 2.13 ERA and 0.881 WHIP.
In most years, Kershaw would have run away with the Cy Young. But he wasn’t even the best pitcher on his own team in 2015. That honor went to Greinke, who led the majors in ERA and WHIP with absurd marks of 1.66 and 0.844, respectively. It still wasn’t good enough.
Enter Jake Arrieta. He ranked just behind Greinke in ERA and WHIP with marks of 1.77 and 0.865, respectively; had 236 strikeouts to Greinke’s 200; and was the best in MLB at avoiding hits and home runs. But Arrieta stood out because of how he finished the season. After the All-Star break, he had an otherworldly 0.75 ERA, the lowest post-All-Star Game ERA in baseball history. Further cementing Arrieta’s case was the fact that he threw a no-hitter against Greinke and Kershaw’s Dodgers on Aug. 30, 2015. He ultimately took home the NL Cy Young in an extremely close race.
Arrieta continued his dominance into the postseason, throwing a complete game shutout with 11 strikeouts against the Pittsburgh Pirates in the NL Wild Card Game. As if that weren’t enough, he threw another no-hitter on April 21, 2016, against the Cincinnati Reds.
From July 2, 2015, through May 25, 2016, Arrieta made 28 regular-season starts, and in that span, he threw two no-hitters and lost one game. The Cubs’ only loss was when they were no-hit by the Philadelphia Phillies’ Cole Hamels.
For a brief moment, Arrieta, whom the Cubs picked up as an afterthought just two years prior, turned into one of the most dominant pitchers that baseball has ever seen. He had no business winning a Cy Young, much less beating out two future Hall of Famers who were having career years themselves. But he did it anyway.
I wanted to end Extra Innings with this story, not only because it brings back fond memories for me but also because I believe it perfectly encapsulates the beauty of baseball, something I hope I’ve been able to express through my writing. No other sport has ever had nor will ever have a Jake Arrieta — someone who reaches astronomical heights for a full season’s worth of time but is adequate at best for the rest of his career. Arrieta’s story shows that in baseball, more than in any other sport, anything can happen — and that’s what makes it so special.
