Former Phillies pitcher signs with Padres after release

Former Phillies pitcher Jake Arrieta is signing with the Padres

Another former Philadelphia Phillies pitcher is headed to the National League West.

Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic reports that the San Diego Padres are “close” to signing Jake Arrieta, who pitched for the Phillies as recently as 2020.

Arrieta spent three seasons with the Phils and compiled a 4.36 ERA over 64 starts. His best season was his first, when he made 31 starts and struck out 138 batters over 172 2/3 innings. He was the second-best starter behind Aaron Nola in a rotation that included Nick Pivetta, Vince Velasquez, and Zach Eflin. The Phillies finished Arrieta’s first season 80-82, third in the NL East.

The Chicago Cubs reunited with Arrieta during the offseason, signing him to a one-year, $6 million deal. In doing so, they brought home one of the key figures in their historic 2016 season.

Arrieta’s second stint with the Cubs soured quickly

Unfortunately, the Cubs’ season took a terrible turn, and by the deadline, they were sellers, dismantling the remnants of the historic team Arrieta had only just rejoined. Anthony Rizzo became a Yankee, Craig Kimbrel became a White Sock, Javy Baez became a Met.

His 20 starts for the Cubs this season got progressively worse, and he now owns the worst ERA of any season in his 12-year career (6.88). Since May 1, he had an 8.35 ERA over 14 starts. According to Christopher Kamka, his season ERA is the highest in Cubs franchise history by any pitcher with at least 20 starts.

On July 6, he allowed seven earned runs on six hits to his former team, and lasted just 1 2/3 innings. He was the pitcher who allowed Andrew McCutchen’s first-inning grand slam.

Arrieta also isn’t the most popular pitcher, especially after the comments he made to a reporter after what would turn out to be his final start for the Cubs on Wednesday. He allowed eight earned runs on 11 hits, including eight hits in the first inning, before telling a veteran reporter during virtual postgame media availability that he’d “love” if they took off their mask.

The reporter in question was Bruce Levine, who has been covering baseball in Chicago for more than three decades. Given his age, he’s at higher risk for the coronavirus, especially with the Delta variant surging. Levine took the high road and did not mention the exchange in his coverage, by the way. Other reporters who heard the interaction said that Levine’s mask did not muffle his voice at all, suggesting that Arrieta’s request was about preference, not clarity.

The following morning, the Cubs placed him on unconditional release waivers, an abrupt end to a Chicago career that included the Cy Young, a Silver Slugger, and World Series ring in 2016, the first for the franchise in over a century.

While the move was certainly more about Arrieta’s performance than the unnecessary comment, the timing suggested that his comment was a ‘final nail in the coffin’ after yet another dismal outing.

Fans and media members don’t seem thrilled by the news of his signing:

Arrieta began his big-league career with the Baltimore Orioles, before they traded him to the Cubs mid-2013. His first stint with Chicago was the best part of his career; between 2014-2017, he posted a 2.67 ERA over 119 starts, with 756 strikeouts over 751 1/3. In 2015, he led MLB in wins, complete games, shutouts, hits per nine and home runs per nine, pitching himself to an NL Cy Young award.

Just a few weeks ago at the trade deadline, the Phillies were the team desperate for pitching, while the Padres were rumored to be acquiring Max Scherzer. Since the deadline, the Phillies are 10-5, while the Padres are desperate enough to take a flyer on Arrieta.