(AUDACY) When a team opts to sign a 35-year-old pitcher who was released by another organization after posting a 6.88 ERA, you know that club is struggling in the pitching department. And when that same team designates him for assignment after only four starts, you know that he probably didn't improve all that much.
In the case of right-hander Jake Arrieta, he actually got far worse.
The Padres on Tuesday designated Arrieta for assignment after he posted a 10.95 ERA in four starts with San Diego, which took a chance on Arrieta by signing him in mid-August after the Chicago Cubs had let him go. It continued Arrieta's trend of struggling in recent seasons. Across 2019 and 2020 with the Phillies, Arrieta produced a 4.75 ERA, a figure that ranked in the bottom 25 among qualified pitchers (minimum 150 innings), and he was one of only 13 pitchers to allow at least 10 hits per nine innings over that span (via Stathead).
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Arrieta went 0-3 with the Padres, logging 12 1/3 innings and allowing 15 earned runs. He surrendered 13.1 hits per nine innings.
In his final start with San Diego, he also exited with a minor injury.
It remains to be seen if Arrieta earns another chance with a big league team, but the return on investment hasn't been promising when clubs have tried to harness the 2015 Cy Young magic that briefly put Arrieta atop baseball's pitching hierarchy.
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