Jake Arrieta

Jacob Joseph Arrieta (born March 6, 1986) is an American former professional baseball pitcher.

He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Baltimore Orioles, Chicago Cubs, Philadelphia Phillies, and San Diego Padres.

Arrieta played college baseball at Weatherford Junior College and at Texas Christian University (TCU).

He was an All-American and was named Mountain West Conference Pitcher of the Year at TCU.

As a high school senior he was selected by the Cincinnati Reds in the 31st round of the 2004 draft, but instead he chose to attend college.

Arrieta attended Weatherford Junior College for his freshman year in 2005, posting a 6–2 win–loss record with a 3.43 ERA.

Following his freshman year, he was selected by the Milwaukee Brewers in the 26th round of the 2005 Major League Baseball draft.

Instead, he opted to transfer to Texas Christian University (TCU), where he played for the TCU Horned Frogs baseball team for his sophomore and junior seasons, and studied sport psychology.

During the summer of 2005, prior to enrolling at TCU, Arrieta participated in summer collegiate baseball with the McKinney Marshalls of the Texas Collegiate League, and posted a 4–3 record in 10 starts with a 1.87 ERA over 62 2⁄3 innings pitched.

During his sophomore year in 2006, he led college baseball with 14 wins and had a 2.35 ERA over 19 appearances, and he had 111 strikeouts in 111 innings.

He won the Mountain West Conference Pitcher of the Year Award and was named a Second-Team College Baseball All-American after his sophomore year.

Arrieta first joined the United States national baseball team in 2006, and helped the team win the World University Baseball Championship in Cuba.

He was 4–0 with 34 strikeouts and a 0.27 ERA—allowing just one earned run in 35 innings pitched over six starts for the team.

The Orioles selected Arrieta in the fifth round of the 2007 MLB draft, and he signed a then record contract for a fifth round draft pick.

In 2007, his junior year, he was 9–3 with a 3.01 ERA.

He was named First-team All-Mountain West in 2007.

The Baltimore Orioles selected Arrieta in the fifth round, 159th overall, of the 2007 MLB Draft, and he joined the team on a signing bonus of $1.1 million, almost ten times higher than the recommended bonus for a fifth-round pick.

Because he signed with the team late, he was not eligible to play for a regular-season Minor League Baseball (MiLB) team and made his professional debut in the Arizona Fall League (AFL), where he was named a Preseason All-Star.

He made an impression there by pitching 16 scoreless innings for the Phoenix Desert Dogs, keeping his walks plus hits per innings pitched (WHIP) below 1.00 for the AFL championship-winning team.

He pitched for the United States national baseball team at the 2008 Summer Olympics, winning the bronze medal.

In his first start at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, Arrieta pitched six innings and struck out seven in Team USA's 9–1 victory over the China national baseball team.

He opened the 2008 season with the Class A Frederick Keys of the Carolina League.

Minor league pitching coach Blaine Beatty remembered Arrieta entering the season with a strong pitching repertoire, but struggling with the mental aspect of the game, particularly with maintaining his composure under duress.

He made 20 starts for the Keys, going 6–5 in the process.

Additionally, Arrieta served as the Keys' opening day starter, received both Mid-Season and Post-Season All-Star honors, and pitched in the All-Star Futures Game.

He pitched a scoreless inning at the Futures Game, allowing only one hit and striking out one.

Arrieta was also the only minor league baseball player below Double-A to be named to the United States national baseball team for the 2008 Summer Olympics.

He started in one game for the USA team, pitching six scoreless innings in a 9–1 group stage victory over China.

Arrieta and the rest of Team USA ultimately took bronze in the Olympic tournament.

Arrieta made his big league debut for the Orioles in 2010, and after four seasons he was traded to the Cubs in 2013.

In 2015, he led MLB in wins with 22, pitched a no-hitter, and won the 2015 National League Cy Young Award.

In 2016, he was an NL All Star, threw his second no-hitter, received a Silver Slugger Award, and won a World Series with the Cubs.

Prior to the start of the 2018 season, Arrieta signed a three-year, $75 million contract with the Phillies.

In August 2019, it was announced that he would have season-ending surgery to remove a bone spur in his pitching elbow.

He returned to the starting rotation with the Phillies for the shortened 2020 season.

In 2021, he returned to the Cubs, but was released partway through the season before signing with the San Diego Padres.

Arrieta announced his retirement from professional baseball after the 2021 season.

Arrieta was born in Farmington, Missouri, to Lou and Lynda Arrieta.

They moved to Texas four months after Arrieta was born, and he grew up in Plano, Texas, where he attended Plano East Senior High School.

He was 6–1 with a 1.61 ERA as a junior, and 5–4 with a 1.30 ERA as a senior.