Perfect pitch

Hunter helps Phils land Jake Arrieta

CLEARWATER, Fla. - Tommy Hunter’s biggest pitch for the Philadelphia Phillies came before he even took the mound for his new team.

Since he signed a two-year deal in December, the reliever has been pushing Jake Arrieta to follow him to Philadelphia. Mission accomplished.

Arrieta and the Phillies agreed Sunday to a $75 million, threeyear contract, a deal that could be worth up to $135 million over five seasons, three people familiar with the decision told The Associated Press.

“I’ve been on the phone with him this whole entire off-season to see if it can work out,” Hunter said Monday. “I was coming hard. It’s not up to you as a player or a friend. Ultimately it’s up to the people in charge to get this done and they did it.”

Hunter and Arrieta have been friends since their college days. They spent four years together in Baltimore and have remained close. Hunter said their wives have been texting each other regularly about places to live.

“He’s a competitor and he brings it every day and the way he goes about playing baseball is going to teach a lot of guys there’s a lot of different ways to being successful and he’s an example of that,” Hunter said. “He’s going to take pressure off the younger guys. He’s a guy you can talk to. He’s been through the lowest of lows and he’s won a Cy Young and he’s a guy who players can relate to and strive to be like.”

Arrieta won the 2015 NL Cy Young Award with the Chicago Cubs.