Jake Arrieta is an elite pitcher in MLB but his shocking ascension wouldn’t have happened if he followed through on thoughts about quitting baseball in 2013.
The Chicago Cubs pitcher spoke with Patrick Mooney of CSN Chicago, admitting after being demoted by Baltimore in 2013, he thought about retiring and pursuing another career.
“We were at a point where I had other things that I could segue into and establish a career elsewhere,” Arrieta said Tuesday. “Not that I wanted that to happen, but I didn’t want to continue to go through the things we were going through and moving from place to place in the minor leagues at 25, 26 years old.
“Baseball is something that I’ve loved to do since I was a little kid, but it’s not everything. I had to reevaluate some things. I knew I could always pitch this way, but there were times where it seemed like maybe I wasn’t going to get to that point.
The demotion turned out to be the best thing that ever happened to Arrieta. He was traded to the Chicago Cubs in July and pitched well in nine starts. In 2014, his performance improved once again, notching a 10-5 record and 2.53 ERA. In 2015, Arrieta transformed into the ace he’s known as today, going 22-6 with a 1.77 ERA, winning the NL Cy Young award. He’s continued the success into 2016. Against all odds, Arrieta revitalized his career after getting demoted and subsequently traded.
Arrieta’s story lends itself well to the Cubs’ current situation with infielder Tommy La Stella. The Cubs were placed in a tricky spot when infielder Tommy La Stella failed to report to the minors following a surprise demotion. La Stella considered retirement after being sent to Triple-A. Arrieta said La Stella needs to explain himself, but understands what he’s going through.
“I really care about Tommy,” Arrieta said. “He’s ready to kind of explain to the team what he was going through, because there’s a lot of confusion, rightfully so. But I take the baseball aspect completely out of it and I look at it from just a human-being perspective. I can relate to him on a lot of different levels.
La Stella put himself in a tough spot, but he’s got a friend in Arrieta, who’s experienced similar doubts in his career. La Stella should use Arrieta’s story as motivation. Quitting would be easy, but as proven with Arrieta, sometimes time heals all wounds.
