10 things to know about Arrieta

Facts and figures on the Phillies' newest starting pitcher

March 12th, 2018

The Phillies reportedly agreed to a three-year, $75 million deal with on Sunday, landing the marquee free-agent starting pitcher remaining on the market.
It's a huge move for the Phillies, giving them an ace for their pitching staff and seemingly putting them in a position to contend for the postseason sooner than many expected.
Hot Stove Tracker
As the 32-year-old right-hander -- a National League Cy Young Award winner, All-Star and World Series champion with the Cubs -- heads to Philadelphia, MLB.com takes a look at the pitcher the Phils are getting. Here are 10 things to know about Arrieta:
• Arrieta has proven he can pitch on baseball's biggest stage. He won both of his starts in the 2016 World Series as the Cubs shattered their 108-year curse, posting a 2.38 ERA and 15 strikeouts in his 11 1/3 innings across Games 2 and 6 -- the latter of which he won with Chicago facing elimination. Arrieta also threw a shutout in the NL Wild Card Game in 2016, a brilliant 11-strikeout performance that marked the first time in MLB history a pitcher threw a postseason shutout with double-digit K's and no walks.

• Arrieta was the 2015 NL Cy Young Award winner, earning the honor with a 22-6 record, 1.77 ERA and 236 strikeouts for the Cubs, leading the Major Leagues in wins, complete games (four) and shutouts (three). He helped lead the Cubs to the NL Championship Series, and he added another shutout in the postseason. Arrieta became Chicago's first Cy Young Award winner since Hall of Famer Greg Maddux (1992), and the fifth in franchise history. The Phillies have had seven Cy Young Award winners as a franchise, most recently the late Roy Halladay in 2010.
• En route to winning the NL Cy Young Award in 2015, Arrieta put together a historically great second half of the season. In 15 starts after the All-Star break, he went 12-1 with a microscopic 0.75 ERA and 113 strikeouts in 107 1/3 innings, throwing nine scoreless outings (including his no-hitter). Arrieta's 0.75 ERA is the lowest in the second half by a qualified pitcher in any season in MLB history.
• Arrieta has thrown two no-hitters -- the first against the Dodgers on Aug. 30, 2015, and the second against the Reds on April 21, 2016. That makes him one of just 33 pitchers in MLB history to throw multiple no-hitters, and the most recent to join the club. The list also notably includes Halladay, who threw two for the Phils in '10, including one in the postseason, and Jim Bunning, who threw the first perfect game in team history in 1960.
• Arrieta's first no-hitter ended in especially impressive fashion. He struck out the side in the ninth inning at Dodger Stadium -- , Jimmy Rollins and -- to end the game and seal the no-no. Arrieta was the first person to end a no-hitter by striking out the side since baseball legend Sandy Koufax did so in his 1965 perfect game, also at Dodger Stadium.

• After spending his first 3 1/2 Major League seasons in the American League, Arrieta joined the NL in 2013 after he was traded from the Orioles to the Cubs in early July. In 121 career starts against NL teams, Arrieta is 59-34 with a 3.06 ERA and 743 strikeouts in 741 innings. Against the NL East -- not including the Phillies -- he has made 25 career starts, with a 9-5 record, 3.10 ERA and 149 strikeouts in 156 2/3 innings. Arrieta has made two career starts at Citizens Bank Park and was stellar in both, beating his new team in both games -- he threw seven scoreless innings against the Phils in 2014, and eight innings of one-run ball in '15, with nine strikeouts in the first outing and seven in the second.
• Pitching out of his distinctive cross-body delivery, Arrieta chiefly throws a sinker, slider, curveball and changeup. Here are hitters' numbers against each of Arrieta's offerings last season:
Sinker: .244 BA (94-for-386), .420 SLG, 14 HR, 78 K
Slider: .283 BA (30-for-106), .528 SLG, 6 HR, 29 K
Curveball: .162 BA (12-for-74), .338 SLG, 3 HR, 32 K
Changeup: .167 BA (10-for-60), .233 SLG, 0 HR, 20 K

• Arrieta was college teammates with Cardinals All-Star Matt Carpenter at Texas Christian University. Arrieta pitched for the Horned Frogs in 2006 and '07 before he was taken by the Orioles in the third round of the 2007 Draft, with Carpenter playing for TCU from 2005-09. Arrieta was even a groomsman at Carpenter's wedding. On the field, Arrieta has the edge in their head-to-head matchups, holding Carpenter to an .083 batting average -- Carpenter is 3-for-36 against Arrieta, including 1-for-3 in the Cubs' win over the Cardinals in the 2015 NL Division Series.
• Arrieta took up woodworking as a hobby a few years ago. According to him, "The more knowledge you gain of it, you just want to keep going because it's such a detailed type of hobby and there's so many little things you have to know well in order to build something efficiently. It's pretty therapeutic, too, to get in your garage or shop and work for five, six, seven hours at a time. It's a pretty fun thing to do." Among the things he's made include a dining room buffet table, a few end tables, an entryway table with breadboard ends and a workbench for his garage.
• The first batter Arrieta faced as a Major Leaguer was Yankees captain Derek Jeter on June 10, 2010. He got Jeter to ground out to second and went on to win the game with six innings of three-run ball, a quality start.
"I remember the sensation of levitating off the mound when Jeter's name was announced as the first guy I was going to face and the 28,000 Yankee fans in attendance at Camden Yards went nuts," Arrieta said of his debut. "That was an incredible moment to kick off my career. What better way than to face a guy like that? I got him out -- he hit a ground ball to second -- and I was like, 'Maybe I can do this.'"