Cy Young award winner Jake Arrieta revealed that he was fatigued in the playoffs, after tossing 229 innings in the regular season, according to an ESPN report.
Including his 19.2 playoff innings, the 29-year-old hurler threw 248.2 innings, which topped his career-high innings mark, set last year at 156.2.
ESPN.com’s Jesse Rogers reported that Arrieta said:
“I think that throwing that many innings this year after not being over, I’m not sure the total, about 170-180 … you can train and you can prepare and you be in top physical condition but without having a workload like that under your belt it’s natural for your body to wear down or let you know, ‘Hey, we’re getting into an area we haven’t been before,’” Arrieta said on a conference call Wednesday after winning the Cy Young.
Arrieta pitched to a 1.77 ERA, winning 22 games and striking out 236 batters. He led the Cubs into the NLCS, where the New York Mets swept them in four games.
Constantly mixing up his off-season condition program, Arrieta’s main concern is to avoid injury. His agent, Scott Boras, is seeking a long-term contract extension for him; therefore, Arrieta has to prove he can stay healthy and pitch deep into the season. He earned $3.6 million last season.
[ESPN]
