After a questionable 2016 season as far as elitedom goes, Jake Arrieta is really starting to make owners worry as he put up a line of 4.1 IP, 5 ER, 10 Hits, 3 BBs, 5 Ks yesterday against the Red Sox. My assessment of Arrieta entering the year was that his command wasn't going to get fixed but his stuff is good enough to give you quality outings even when he's not dotting the plate like 2015. I'm not here to telling you that Arrieta is outside the Top 25, but I will say that I'm questioning his Top 15 ranking right now. His best pitch in 2015 was his Slutter that was just unbelievably good. It seems like his command of it has gotten even worse than his struggles from 2016 and now he's had to focus more on Changeups and Curveballs to make up for it. That doesn't seem like a good idea, but here is the interesting part. He's throwing more Sinkers for strikes - that's excellent - and he's using his Changeup more often which has a 20.0% whiff rate and 50.0% O-Swing - that's elite. The question is if he can use his Curveball and/or Changeup - or hell, why not his Slutter? - as a strike-getter inside of the zone. Arrieta needs that second pitch to rely on for a strike and it's totally possible he does that. It seems he's already moving toward changing his approach and if that means more of a Fastball/Changeup combo that Fastball/Slider, he can still be elite. So I'm conflicted. I want to say that he can rebound and adapt, on the other hand I still worry about his overall command and he clearly isn't 2015 without that Slider. He's a risky buy and it really depends on the risk/reward situation in your league. I'm super curious to see how this plays out rest of the year.
Let’s see how every other SP did yesterday:
