It’s been something that’s been familiar to Phillies fans in the past 3 seasons. Having Jake Arrieta on the mound, which equates to a loss by the end of the game. Last night was no different, despite a brief good outing the last time by Jake Arrieta, he got hit around by the Braves in the 2nd inning last night, and it was enough that the Phillies couldn’t recover. I knew the Phils were in trouble in the game early by reading a tweet sent out by rival Braves podcaster/blogger Atlanta Baseball Talk, when the tweeted “The start to this game is just fine”.
Embed from Getty ImagesThe start to this game is just fine.
— ABT (@atlbaseballtalk) August 30, 2020
Jake’s never given up 7 ER in a game for the Phillies as he did last night, but last season he gave up 5 ER in 6 different games for the team. Arrieta’s highest ER given up in a game in a Phillies uniform was 6, back in 2018. Even in a few of those games last year, the Phillies rallied back as they did last night but lost the game 12-10 eventually.
Embed from Getty Images Girardi gets booted for saying something to Umpire Bill Welke last nightThe game last night left Arrieta with a bloated 6.49 ERA, should Arrieta be allowed to not play out the rest of his contract with the team? Why let him go out there and make a showing like we saw last night? Just chalk it up as a bad signing, and send him packing. A few posts ago, the FightinPhillies.com blog explored whether Jake Arrieta has been the worst performing high profile player signing in recent Phillies history (going back at least 20 years). I would again have to say he is.
What do the Phillies need to add at this point in the season, they have one day to do it, Ricky Bo says, “Obviously maybe another starting pitcher” – on the post game show on NBC Sports Philadelphia.