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CUBS, SOX OPEN WITH WEST COAST WINS
ANAHEIM, Calif. — The expectations and hype over what the Cubs might do this season aren’t the only things that kicked up a notch or two in an easy 9- 0 victory over the Los Angeles Angels in Monday night’s season opener.
The value of ace Jake Arrieta — already more significant than for any other player on the Cubs’ roster — could be on the rise again after he made Monday look like just another start in last year’s historic finish that earned him a Cy Young Award.
With his agent, Scott Boras, watching from his box behind home plate at Angel Stadium, Arrieta dominated Mike Trout, Albert Pujols and the rest of the Angels for seven innings, allowing just two singles and a walk and needing just 89 pitches to do it.
“I intend to start quick, and fast, and not look back,” Arrieta, who hasn’t allowed a regular- season run in four starts dating to Sept. 16, said even before making his second career Opening Day start. “That’s just the competitive nature, the desire to win and to be better than anybody else. But with that being said, you still have to go out there and compete and perform.”
Compete? He struck out six, including Trout twice. Perform? He has allowed two earned runs in his last 10 regular- season starts, covering 74 innings, and has won his last 12 decisions.
“It’s like a museum,” said Boras, whose most recent talks with the Cubs over a contract extension for Arrieta ended, predictably, early in spring training over contract length. “You walk in, and they tell you what pictures to look at. They have their pictures, and we have our pictures.”
For now, the pictures are looking like masterpieces. The guy with the best second- half ( 0.75 ERA), best 20- start ( 0.86) and best two- month ( 0.41) finishes for a pitcher in major- league history last season just picked up where he left off. And if the trend continues into the early months of this season, the Cubs could be on their way to that quick start they’ve been talking about.
And Arrieta could start pushing his value into David Price and Max Scherzer territory ($ 217 million and $ 210, respectively) by the time he hits the free- agent market after the 2017 season.
“Every Cy Young Award winner I know gets a seven- year [ freeagent] contract,” Boras said.
The relative market scarcity for pitchers in 2017 makes that sound even more reasonable. The 2018 class could get flooded with names like Matt Harvey, Clayton Kershaw, Dallas Kuechel and Jose Fernandez. Boras already has compared Arrieta to Scherzer, another of his clients.
“The gradient obviously is about repeatability [ vs. sheer age],” he said. “I’m going to look more at tendons, ligaments, body type, plus Jake’s remarkable conditioning. I mean, this guy is one of the most disciplined athletes I’ve ever seen. The great thing is he enjoys it. He enjoys conditioning. Max Scherzer loves conditioning, too.
‘‘ Those kind of guys, they just retain what they have.”
Arrieta’s season turned in midJune last year when he shut out the Minnesota Twins on four hits. Since then, he has been a pitcher of a different level.
“It was the confidence and the trust factor with my stuff, knowing that I can complete games easier than I thought just by having conviction with all my stuff and being down in the zone,” he said.
He expects it to carry over into a fast start and full season.
“It’s hard to pitch to numbers,” Arrieta said. “It’s more important for me to just prepare in the manner that creates success, and that’s where I feel I’m at right now.”
Said manager Joe Maddon: “I think he has just taught himself to be a present- tense guy. I think his preparation has a lot to do with that. His routine has a lot to do with that — a self- awareness, an understanding of what he’s capable of doing on a daily basis. That’s where the edge has shown up. It’s between his ears.”