Jake Arrieta Noncommittal About Whether He'll Keep Pitching Through Pain
By Michael Luciano
It was pretty rough watching the San Francisco Giants' win over the Philadelphia Phillies on Sunday Night Baseball, as Phillies starter Jake Arrieta was clearly in agony and grimacing with every pitch.
Arrieta has been pitching for some time with a bone spur in his elbow. Rather than shut it down, he has soldiered on through the pain. Arrieta doesn't have a firm decision on if he will continue to pitch through this injury, stating that he may have a conversation Wednesday about it.
But after Sunday's disaster, it seems more and more likely his season is nearing its end and running on fumes.
Jake Arrieta said he “doesn’t want to make a decision” about whether to keep pitching. He intends to take the off-day tomorrow, then “maybe have a conversation Tuesday.”
— Scott Lauber (@ScottLauber) August 12, 2019
Arrieta's ERA has ballooned to 4.64 this season due to a combination of both his health failing him and the inability to get consistent sink on his fastball.
The Phillies rotation, outside of the stalwart Aaron Nola, has been extremely disappointing this season, and Arrieta is one of the biggest offenders. Yes, the Phillies are in a playoff race, but Arrieta is in agony and struggling on the mound, so surgery might be the best option.
Jake Arrieta was supposed to at least age into an innings eater that saved the bullpen once every five days. He’s now bad, and not even capable of doing that.
— Joe Giglio (@JoeGiglioSports) August 12, 2019
Arrieta might be one of the old school, "tough it out through the pain" guys, but there has to be a middle ground between that and destroying your arm like this.