Jake Arrieta
Full Name: Jacob Joseph Arrieta
Birthdate: March 6, 1986
Birthplace: Farmington, Missouri, USA
Occupation: Major League Baseball Player
Profile: Won a World Series with the Chicago Cubs in 2016.
Website: https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/a/arrieja01.shtml
Number of Quotes: 120
A lot of guys are starting to get away from trying to jerk these heavy weights and throw all these heavy weights around.
A lot of guys came together quickly as a group, as more than just teammates, as friends. Your family get to know each other, and you become really
close, and that's a big part of the team aspect is caring about your teammates off the field, getting to know their kids, their families, their wives.
ACE
is one of the acronyms I've used over the years. It stands for Acting cures everything.
You
weren't promised to come to the ballpark and feel great on your start day. Basically, how can you put something on
display to the opponent that gives the appearance of OK, this guy is locked in today,
whether you are or not?
ACE stands for Acting cures everything.
You weren't promised to come to the ballpark and feel great on your start day.
As a kid, you put yourself in those positions. Bases loaded, two outs, you're at the plate.
That's kind of the way I envision it as a kid playing whiffle ball or whatever the case was.
As far as my mental approach, I really think it's just knowing that the past is really irrelevant.
As you get a little older, you understand what you need to do to be good, regardless of who likes it or
doesn't like it. It's my career. And at the end of the day, it's going to be how I think I can do it best.
At an early age, if you develop a delivery or a throwing motion that is direct to the
plate, then that's fine. If you have one that's slightly open, that's fine, too.
At the end of the day, all we're trying to do is get the hitter off balance. Get him in a position where he's not strong in the strike zone.
At this point, I'm just grinding through it, trying to establish strikes in the zone with my
pitches, using some information the opposition gives me, and kind of moving forward in that regard.
Being in the same sentence as Bob Gibson, that's incredible.
Expressing admiration for being compared to the legendary pitcher Bob Gibson.
Building strength is very important, but there are many ways to do that.
Dry deliveries. That helps when I get the ball back in my hand - like I never really stopped throwing. The goal for me is to increase arm strength.
Early in my career, I wasn't good in the strike zone early. I was good in the strike zone late, which is not a good thing.
Everybody here has the ability to throw a fastball down and away or throw a breaking ball in the dirt for a swing and a miss. But are we
able to stay in that moment and understand what we're trying to accomplish and see it in our mind before we execute and then make the pitch?
Everyone wants to have a career year, but if I stick to what I'm doing, I like my chances. I'll be fine.
Guys want to be compensated fairly.
Hamstring flexibility and hip mobility for me are the two most important factors on the field.
How many people can do what I do, anyways? A handful of guys?
I care about the integrity of the game.
I consider myself a really good racquetball player. I'm sure that I would get waxed by
some actually good racquetball players, but I consider myself a pretty versatile athlete.
I could be 30 pounds heavier if I played football. But I play baseball, and I do Pilates.
I don't like to see any sucker punches. I do think, in the heat of battle, if you're
getting hit on the hip with 98, then you should be able to go out and see somebody.
I don't think I've ever been as humbled as I have been in Pilates. It's incredible how much body
control and how much isolated strength you have to have to complete these movements successfully.
I eat plants. I eat lean meat. I work out.
I enjoyed my time in Baltimore. I really did. I learned so much.
I expect to beat everybody I play. It's kind of that quiet confidence that I have inside that I try to present to the
opponent without getting too overboard. Because there are times when I seem composed, but inside I'm losing my mind.
I feel, that I'm only going to get better.
I had great teammates. Adam Jones took great care of me. Mike Gonzalez took good care of me.
I had teammates like Chris Davis. Manny Machado was really young and such a good kid. Seeing his
development, it's ridiculous. He's going to get bigger. He's going to get stronger. He's going to get even better.
I know the Cubs don't typically do six- or seven-year deals, but I think there are
obviously times when there should be exceptions. I think I've done pretty well here.
I let previous instances creep up in my thought process sometimes. I think that's where things go awry,
and that's where the walks come in. I'm not giving up many hits, just putting them on base for free.
I like my chances toe to toe with just about anybody.
I like to get the body temperature up, the heart rate up. I'll do anywhere from 10 to 25 minutes either on a bike, a rower, a StairMaster, or a combination
of the three of those. And then I'll normally run through a 20- to 30-minute session either on the Pilates reformer, the Cadillac, or the Pilates chair.
I personally don't think guys should get multiple chances when guys fail a steroid test.
I repeat my delivery consistently. My balance is much improved. And the mental and physical
toughness Pilates requires to complete movements the correct way have directly helped me on the mound.
I think flexibility in general is something that needs to be reinforced, and not only baseball players but all sports.
I think the average MLB career now is just a few years. The quote that has always resonated
with me is We're going to be former players a lot longer than we were current players.
I think the beard plays a slight factor to my presence on the mound. It's kind of part of the
persona now. Everyone in Chicago embraced it, so I got to keep it. I can't ditch it now.
I trust how much my ball moves. I can throw it at you or this far off the plate and have it end up on the black. That's
where I kind of went to the next level. I knew what all my pitches were doing. Even in '14, I didn't have that ability.
I try to start every day with some sort of vegetable and fruit juice before I eat any kind of solid food. Because
that really jump starts your body and digestive system with the high content of micronutrients that your body needs.
I want to shoot an elk with a bow. Mind you, I've never hunted in my life. But I feel like if I'm
ever going to hunt, it's going to be with a bow. I just feel like a bow requires more skill.
I was giving some of my teammates a hard time, saying I've got more pop than they do.
I was in Baltimore in 2012 and 2013.
I watch what I eat, and I train properly.
I wouldn't change anything I went through for the world, because it got me here.
I wouldn't want to disappoint my family, my friends, my fans.
I'd like to stay in Chicago, but if they don't want me, somebody will.
I'm extremely hairy. It pretty much connects from the top of my head to my toes with a nice upper body sweater/track jacket type of thing.
I'm never trying to hurt or hit anybody.
I'm not really into the statements kind of thing.
I'm not saying I won't make a mistake throughout the game.
I'm probably throwing down close to 10,000 calories. And then I don't eat for three or four days.
I've always been in good shape. I just sucked early in my career from a statistical perspective.
Candidly acknowledging his early career challenges despite being physically fit.
I've been through a lot in my career, and the failure that I've gone through makes me really appreciate the moments of success much more.
I've got some good movement on my sinking fastball, and I rely on that.
I've had some incredible experiences with this organization. I owe a lot to this team and this
organization and the ownership. I don't want to see that time come to an end, my time as a Cub.
I've heard players, and I'm talking about some of the best players in the league, question whether I've
taken steroids or not. Some of the things I hear are pretty funny, and some people are idiots, frankly.
I've made it clear I like Chicago.
I've never had anything to hide.
If I have to leave, I don't want to leave without another ring.
If people call into question my work ethic, that's fine, because I know what I'm doing behind the scenes.
If two guys want to go see each other, let them be in the middle, let them throw some punches, then break it up.
Immersing myself in the Wrigleyville area was special to me and my family.
It is good to kind of put your pride aside for the betterment of the ball club. We are all on board for that, even if you want to go another inning.
It's about just staying in the moment.
It's going to come down to executing, trying to keep guys off balance and disrupting timing.
That's something you can do regardless of how many times you face a lineup or face certain hitters.
It's just a continuous process, trying to work through it, trying find that comfort zone
and go from there. That's kind of where I'm at. I feel pretty good about where I'm at.
It's one thing to have a scouting report and not be able to execute it, and it's completely different if you're able to
kind of work your way through that report, attack guys certain ways, use different sequences, and be effective with them.
It's something that is very comforting. Just the process of them moving throughout their stages of early
childhood. Learning to walk, learning to talk. Reaching out for you for the first hug, telling you they love you.
Just having two kids now, regardless of what happens in the field, they're there to receive you with open arms every night after every game.
Just know, especially when they were infants and toddlers, the thought these two children
depend on us for everything in their lives 24/7. That's a pretty incredible responsibility.
Just so many special moments that make you feel incredibly fortunate and grateful to be able to have healthy, beautiful kids.
And I'm sure the emotions will continue to change over time, and as I get older, I'll probably want to yell and scream at them.
Look at all of the pitchers getting six- and seven-year deals at 30, 31, and 32. You see what's going on and the money
that's out there. You'd be a fool not to try to benefit from that, or at least try to get what you feel you're worth.
My flexibility is probably my No. 1 asset. Obviously we need to have a strong shoulder, strong scapula, strong lats, and a durable elbow to
have longevity as a pitcher, but being mobile in the hips and flexible in the hamstrings takes so much pressure and stress off of my arm.
On the road, we're hitting in the cages during our normal batting practice for our position players.
Once I get completely right mechanically and with command, maybe I only use two or three pitches to get through seven innings.
People asking my teammates, Is Arrieta a guy who'd try to cheat the system?
Honestly, hearing that
kind of stuff come from some of the best players in baseball is honestly a compliment. I view it that way.
People had lost faith in me in Baltimore, and rightfully so. I knew that was not the guy I was.
People have confidence in you. It's easy to have confidence in somebody that's going out there every night and giving the team a chance to win.
Pilates has been around a long time but maybe was taboo in this sport. I think it's
only a matter of time before you see a reformer in every big league clubhouse.
Really being able to harness my mental approach has kind of taken me to the next level, and obviously maturing as a player and a
teammate and as a person. Those are things that are necessary to achieve success in this game. There's no other way around it.
Regardless of how long it took or what I had to go through to get there, I had visualizations of throwing no-hitters or throwing shutouts.
Sequencing is a really big factor in preparing for a team that you've faced several times. For me, at the end of the day, I feel like if I
execute, regardless if I were to use same sequencing as I have in the past against these guys, I still feel confident in my ability to have success.
Sometimes, when I break my hands, I kind of go too far behind my body, and what
that will do, wherever my right arm's going to go, my left arm's going to go.
Sports psychology or mental training has been viewed as a weakness, and I think that's a pretty silly way to look at it.
That's one of my focuses, is to increase my flexibility and strength and have greater range of motion.
That's one the main reasons we live in Austin. The weather is so nice for the majority of the offseason, and it's easy for us to get out and
ride bikes and get on some trails, to walk together as a family. Sometimes I'll go out for a trail run. We just like to do things outdoors.
That's why I got into Pilates: because I can reduce the stress and impact in my joints while
still being able to increase strength and flexibility, and it's going to pay dividends.
That's why it's so important to have that gap between your fastball and off-speed
pitches: then, when you effectively locate your fastball, it plays at a higher velocity.
The back hair doesn't get all that long; it's just really thick. So if I don't keep it shaved once a week, it's a
problem, and it could take two hours. And my wife's got to do it, so it's her problem. I told her we just need to buy
a laser hair removal machine because it would take three or four years and probably 50 sessions to get rid of it.
The contract stuff will work itself out. If we keep winning, those kinds of things all work themselves out in time.
The initial desire to train at an elite level started when I was probably 12.
The numbers are hard to control.
The preparation is what allows the success to happen naturally.
The timeline is kind of coming to an end as far as leading up to free agency.
There are so many things on Twitter, so many mentions, it's hard to get through all of them.
There are still things I can do better.
There were so many things in Baltimore not many people know about. I had struggles with my pitching coach. A lot of guys did.
There's food and supplements that you can take legally that will better your body and help you stay healthy. Shortcuts are
something that's always been around all sports, but as a union, we're trying to do the best we can to weed those guys out of the game.
There's not many guys that can pitch at the top of the rotation floating around the league.
There's plenty of situations where we'll come up with guys on base, less than two outs, and those are opportunities for us to help ourselves out.
There's so many things running through your mind. If you can formulate a game plan that works for you and
allows you to block outside distractions and get to what matters, that's how the talent is able to come out.
Time flies really quickly. It feels like only a few months ago that I was traded over here and started my career as a Cub in 2013.
Typically, being under the strike zone with the sinker isn't a big issue. I need to be a little bit higher with the
strike zone earlier in the count. If you miss under with one here and there when you're ahead, it's really not an issue.
Unfortunately, the business side of the game shows its head every once in a while. But I still think
there's opportunity and chances that we can have good conversations as far as an extension's concerned.
We know St. Louis is a great club. They have been for a long time.
We're tested eight, nine times a year - blood tested, urine tested, so I mean, if people think I'm doing something, tell them to increase the testing.
What I did before in my career you can pretty much throw out the window. Out of sight, out of mind.
What I don't like to see is a lot of chirping and guys just talking crap to each other. If you got something wrong with a guy, go see him.
When I do train heavy, it's typically one to two days a week, but the training I do just about on a daily basis is Pilates-based.
When it comes up with my age, I'm like, let's just end the conversation there. That's irrelevant to me. I'll pitch until I'm 40.
With a runner at second base with nobody out, you're trying to punch somebody out. You
understand when there are guys in scoring position; hitters like to be aggressive early.
You can struggle for a little while. It's going to happen. If a guy hits .200 for a while, it doesn't mean he's a .200 hitter.
You feel everybody has your best interests in mind, but you come to find out that's not necessarily the case.
You play your surroundings. You pitch accordingly. Not that I drastically try to change my game
plan based on the score or the team or stadium, but you have to take everything into consideration.
You rarely see any blowout games.
You really want to try to continue to pile up outs as often as you possibly can. Whether they get a hit or
not really doesn't affect the way you continue to approach that lineup, especially with a five-run lead.
You want to be paid in respect to how your peers are paid.
You want to be the team that is on the field when the last out is made on the winning side.
That's obviously the holy grail in the game that I play, and that's what every player strives for.
Last on Earth
