The Cubs were seeing a resurgence in Jake Arrieta, coming off a Pitcher of the Month Award for August, the 31-year-old Arrieta was priming himself nicely for a promising offseason contract. However, that may have all been placed on hold as Arrieta may have just suffered a terrible leg injury.
Jake injured. Throws another pitch to test things out, NOT GOOD! pic.twitter.com/Cu6E5LfHLh
— ⓂarcusD (@_MarcusD2_) September 4, 2017
That does not look good, and the test pitch went even worse.
Jake throws a test pitch, didn't go well. pic.twitter.com/leDfv3ZdA8
— ⓂarcusD (@_MarcusD2_) September 4, 2017
— ⓂarcusD (@_MarcusD2_) September 4, 2017
Man, this is tough to watch. And after Arrieta had been putting together an excellent 2nd half with a 1.59 ERA since the All-Star Break. There is no word on how serious the injury is, but people are already speculating that today could’ve been Arrieta’s last start as a Cub.
Here's my "way too soon extreme overreaction" to what I just saw: That could be Jake Arrieta's last appearance in a Cubs uniform.
— Ryan Davis (@RyanQDavis) September 4, 2017
Now, it is clearly far too early to assume that is the case, however with only a few more weeks of baseball before the playoffs start, the Cubs losing Arrieta for any extended period of time is terrible news. If Jake Arrieta does end up missing some time, expect Mike Montgomery to stick around in the rotation and for the Cubs to possibly add another start to the mix – Eddie Butler, if healthy, or Jeng-Ho Tseng are players to watch. As of right now, things look hopeful.
For now, this is ok news. No knee issue and there's the possibility it's just a cramp. Obviously we'll have a better idea after the game.
— Sahadev Sharma (@sahadevsharma) September 4, 2017
But if it is really the end of the road for Jake as a Chicago Cub, it’s been one hell of a ride. Hate for it to end this way, but Chicago will always have love for Jake the Snake.