Arrieta setting tone for teammates in strange stretch

Jake Arrieta hasn’t had the week he’d expected. The COVID-19 testing, the inability to come into work, the renewed rounds of scrutiny of the Phillies and MLB season-at-large that he’d hoped had been settled last month – that wasn’t on the schedule.

But since COVID-19, ferried north from parts unknown by the Miami Marlins

and facilitated by loopholes in the MLB protocol large enough to drive a sleeper-bus convoy through, cleared Arrieta’s previously planned schedule, he found time.

Monday, Arrieta hopes, normal service will be restored when he takes the mound for his first regular-season start against the New York Yankees. What doesn’t need a refresh, though, is the veteran’s commitment to what the Phillies are trying to accomplish.

“There’s no reason to complain or get upset about it,” Arrieta said on a Zoom call with media Sunday, “because that’s not going to change the situation that we’re in.”

Most of what Arrieta had to say is pretty applicable away from the diamond right now: About taking adequate precautions in the face of a COVID-19 virus we still don’t know much about, about controlling what you can and not harping on the negatives, about putting yourself in the best possible position to succeed regardless of the headwinds.

(Speaking of winds, Arrieta nodded toward that possible tropical-storm incursion forecast this week as a figurative curveball to wipe out Tuesday’s throwing of actual curveballs).

In practical terms, Arrieta’s mindset meant spending this week throwing bullpens and simulated games when he could. On days where Citizens Bank Park was closed out of caution, Arrieta and reliever Tommy Hunter headed to a field by their homes to stretch out their arms.

He figures he’s ready to go for around 90 pitches in his first start of the season. As preparation goes, Arrieta is quick to point out that it won’t be all that different from the game, as the number of spectators at that field and at Yankee Stadium Monday evening will both be, essentially, zero.

“I’m in a good spot,” he said. “I’m going to be able to give my team what we need. Really looking forward to getting into a real game finally.”

It’s been about channeling energy for Arrieta, who last threw before the virtual eyes of the public on July 22, performing well in an intrasquad game. The logic from manager Joe Girardi was to have Arrieta toss two days before the July 24 opener to position him for the following week’s trip to Yankee Stadium, a more difficult assignment in game No. 4 than ostensible No. 3 starter, Vince Velasquez, was capable of.

All that went out the window, as you all know by now, when up to 17 infectious Marlins players came to town for the opening series and the Phillies were quarantined when at least one coach and one team employee contracted the virus on their end. Even the fact that MLB has looked at the data surrounding two reported positive tests for Phillies players and determined them to likely be false positives is only mildly frustrating for Arrieta, in that what-good-is-getting-mad-going-to-do-? kind of way.

“It’s been frustrating, but at the same time, I haven’t been dwelling on that too much because we’re all in a really tough situation having to deal with so many factors that have kind of derailed the beginning of our season,” Arrieta said. “We knew these were going to be tough times, but we’re doing our best to get ready.”

This wouldn’t be the first time that Arrieta has been a model worth emulating; his entire career, from being an Orioles flameout to a Cubs Cy Young Award winner in his late 20s through sheer force of will, extols the virtues of positive thinking. But in this troubled moment, it’s perhaps even more valuable.

Arrieta said he hasn’t heard whispers in the Phillies’ (virtual) clubhouse about players opting out, even as more dominoes fall across MLB. He’s not worried about a lack of legitimacy of the season, even as the Marlins look for warm, COVID-negative bodies to fill out their lineups. Arrieta Sunday stressed the importance of the Lehigh Valley reserves to ensuring the team’s success and viability.

But it comes with the emotional flexibility to bend with the times.

“I can’t fault anybody for making that decision (to opt out), understanding that it’s in the best interest of that player and their family and the health and well-being of their wife, their kids and their family members, so I completely understand that,” he said. “In my mind, as good as we’re doing following all the protocols and trying to avoid getting sick and spreading it around our organization, it seems like no matter how many precautions you take, anybody could get COVID-19.

You could get it from checking the mail or going to the gas station. It’s really a tough situation. We don’t really completely know, which is the scary part.”

That adaptability is being tested as much as anything. MLB’s decision to allow the Marlins to play after receiving three positive tests in Philadelphia, the final decision made by the noted epidemiological tool that is a player group text, failed that test for its rigidity. Players that opt out, while well within their rights, bend completely to the virus’s pressure and miss out on any benefits of baseball, the thing they probably want to be free to do now.

The same battle happens on the individual scale. Conduct yourself as though you’re invulnerable and you put yourself and your team at a higher risk. Dwell solely on the negative and you won’t want to get out of bed in the morning, much less put in the time needed to excel on the field.

By his tone, Arrieta is leading the Phillies down a middle path. Times are tough, but by following rules and being amenable to new information, maybe, just maybe, they stand the best possible shot to get through this and have a little baseball along the way.

“We’re not going to complain about it, not going to make any excuses,” he said. “We just have to try to continue to follow protocol as best we can to not get any more of our staff and players sick.”