Cubs to Skip Arrieta’s Sunday Start
Jake Arrieta will not pitch Sunday against the Cincinnati Reds in order to “give the leg more rest,” Joe Maddon said Friday.
https://twitter.com/CarrieMuskat/status/913801888709120001
The bearded pitcher will instead stay sharp by pitching a bullpen Friday and then a simulated game on a day soon thereafter.
#Cubs‘ Jake Arrieta to throw bullpen today, then a simulated game, then be back ‘as soon as possible’ https://t.co/Nu0ZRDrxFm pic.twitter.com/hb1YSiKvCu
— 670 The Score (@670TheScore) September 14, 2017
This probably doesn’t come as a surprise after Arrieta expressed that he was feeling “something” in his hamstring during the last start. He further admitted to 670 The Score the following:
“I think that just my desire to get back on the field as quick as I possibly could might not have been the smartest thing,” Arrieta said. “I might have come back a little early, a little premature, but I wanted to be out there and help us in any way I could, especially at the time when we hadn’t cemented our spot in the postseason yet. I’ve had to alter my effort level out there.”
Despite not being 100 percent, Arrieta’s velocity in his last start was still among the best we’ve seen from him all year. That said, the Cubs resting the former Cy Young pitcher should do him well.
