Pirates: How to Beat Jake Arrieta
By Rich Donahue
The Pittsburgh Pirates are scheduled to face Jake Arrieta Tuesday night at PNC Park.
Jake Arrieta is the best pitcher going in baseball. You can’t deny it. Twenty-seven wins since the start of last season which is complimented by a microscopic ERA. Oh yeah, Arrieta has thrown two no-hitters in less than a calendar year. Despite not throwing one against the Pirates, they still are one of his biggest victims.
The right hander overmatched the Buccos in 2015, going 3-1 with a 0.75 ERA. They were held to a .209 batting average and were one hit by Arrieta in his final regular season start against the Pirates. Then came the Wild Card game, a team that won 98 games was once again no contest for him, striking out 11 in a complete game shutout.
Tuesday the Pirates will tangle with the pitcher some have compared to Voldemort. This will be the first elite pitchers the club has faced in 2016. Up to this point, the Pirates lineup has produced at a very high rate with their new offensive approach.
They currently sit atop the national league in batting average and OBP and are second in walks and OPS. The new approach helped propel the Pirates to 15 wins in April, which is tied for the most wins in April in team history. Fans were grumbling about their so-so start to begin the year, those people are eating their words.
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What’s fueled this new offensive approach? Plate discipline. The Pirates are taking more pitches, waiting for the right pitch to hit. Batters are getting ahead in the count 2-1 and 3-1, forcing pitchers to throw strikes.
For the Pirates to have any chance against Arrieta, they need to work the counts high. They cannot afford to swing at any bad pitches early in their at-bats. Arrieta has walked 8 over his last 2 starts, granted one of those starts was his no-hitter against the Reds. In his most recent start, the Brewers stole four bases against the high powered righty. The Pirates are third in the NL with 17 steals on the season, look for the Bucs to run on Arrieta.
No team has yet to solve the Arrieta puzzle. This game will be an uphill climb from the opening pitch for the Pirates. They will need more than just their offense to beat the Cubs, who blasted the Buccos for 7 runs Monday. Jon Niese will need to be spot on and the defense has to be error free unlike the past two games.
Some may look at Tuesday’s game as a chance to get revenge from the Wild Card game. The Pirates clubhouse is over last year. They are on to the task at hand. Barring injury, this will not be the last time Arrieta faces the Pirates.
It seems like a long shot, but my gut feeling is the Pirates will hand Arrieta his first loss Tuesday night. .