Phillies: Will Jake Arrieta be ready for the first week of the season?

The Phillies biggest acquisition in years may not be ready to contribute

Delight swept across Clearwater and the Delaware Valley when members of the Phillies organization and fanbase learned Jake Arrieta had signed a multi-year deal with the club. Now having a bonafide ace in the rotation for the first time since Cole Hamels the Phillies could be closer to contending than once thought.

Arrieta has already missed nearly a month of training in Clearwater and hasn’t pitched in a game, regular season or spring training, since Game 4 of the NLCS on October 18 when he went just 6 2/3 innings against the Dodgers.

Reports suggest Arrieta is in tremendous shape and he’s physically prepared to play baseball sooner than later. That doesn’t mean he’s ready to step on the mound in two and a half weeks against Atlanta in game two or three of the season.

Arrieta needs to get himself acclimated with the catchers, coaches, fellow pitchers, and the rest of his surroundings. That being said, pitchers have handled this with success in much less time around the trade deadline. The biggest concern is if Arrieta is physically ready to throw 100 pitches against Atlanta in two and a half weeks.