Jake Arrieta is trading velocity for enhanced control of his pitches, according to Joe Maddon via Tony Andracki’s tweet thread below.
Maddon explained a bit on why Cubs pitchers’ velocity is down, particularly Arrieta’s. Sacrificing velo for command right now with Jake.
— Tony Andracki (@TonyAndracki23) April 15, 2017
It also sure seems by design for Cubs to work up to higher velocity numbers as season progresses. All part of that long game with pitchers.
— Tony Andracki (@TonyAndracki23) April 15, 2017
Essentially the velo dips seem to be similar to pacing SPs in spring training after last year’s long championship run and in anticipation…
— Tony Andracki (@TonyAndracki23) April 15, 2017
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…of another long playoff run in 2017. Cubs are more worried about Sept/Oct/Nov than April right now.
— Tony Andracki (@TonyAndracki23) April 15, 2017
So, the plan apparently is for the Cubs to allow Arrieta to focus on his command and location of his pitches, while slowly working his fastball back into the high 90’s that were accustomed to seeing. The murmurs of Arrieta having real issues on mound have been quieted for the moment, and it helps when the Cubs filthy right-hander shows he still has some nasty stuff despite the lower velocity.
Yeah, I’m gonna choose not to be concerned with Jake’s velo if he has nasty movement like that…
— Sahadev Sharma (@sahadevsharma) April 15, 2017
Jake is still Jake, he’s just not in mid-season form quite yet, but if the velocity doesn’t return for Arrieta the Cubs might be in some trouble going forward in 2017.
