Former Cy Young winner Jake Arrieta announced Monday that he’s retiring after a 12-season career.
“Well, I haven’t signed the papers, man, but I’m done. It’s time for me to step away from the game,” Arrieta said on Barstool Sports’ “Pardon My Take” podcast. “At some point the uniform goes to somebody else and it’s just my time, really.”
Arrieta, 36, was 5-14 with a 7.39 ERA last season between the Chicago Cubs and San Diego Padres.
The right-hander won the National League Cy Young in 2015 when he went 22-6 with a 1.77 ERA for the Cubs and earned his lone All-Star selection the following season when he went 18-8 with a 3.10 ERA. He also helped the Cubs end their 108-year championship drought in 2016, going 2-0 with a 2.38 ERA against Cleveland in the World Series, which the Cubs won in seven games.
In the 2015 and 2016 seasons he also threw two no-hitters.
Arrieta said on the podcast that “Chicago’s my city, it always will be.”
Arrieta began his major league career with the Baltimore Orioles, pitching in four seasons for the franchise (2010-13) before he was traded to the Cubs in 2013. He was a dominant pitcher for the Cubs for five seasons, winning 68 games, before signing a three-year contract with the Philadelphia Phillies. Injuries, however, marred his time with the Phillies.
He finishes his career with a 115-93 record and 3.98 ERA in 285 appearances (279 starts).
Source: www.espn.com