Is Jake Arrieta now in the same league as Kershaw and Bumgarner?
As I don't follow the cubs too closely, the first time I became aware of how dominate Jake Arrieta is as a pitcher is when I rated him for the 2014 TTL baseball season set. My rating system uses 5 pitching categories. (ERA is not one of them) The highest possible score is 60 and I have never given out a 60. Well Arrieta scored a 59 for his 2014 efforts.
Now you can't take too much from ERA but it is useful as a first look comparison. What really stands out is the difference between 2014 and every previous year for Jake. The question is, has he found his groove and will now be dominant going forward, or was 2014 his career year? I have listed his ERA's from 2010 to 2014 below.
Year ERA
2010 - 4.66
2011 - 5.05
2012 - 6.20
2013 - 4.78
2014 - 2.53
In 2014 his WHIP was under 1 and his SO/BB ratio was over 4. He only allowed opponents a .203 batting average. That is dominant stuff for a starting pitcher. I will be following him more closely next year.
