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Arrieta: My training program, not PEDs makes me great

Jake Arrieta said Tuesday he finds a part of any discussion about performance-enhancing drugs and him to be "flattering."

Cubs manager Joe Maddon says anybody who thinks Arrieta is taking PEDs should come and work out with the team's ace pitcher.

Arrieta sat in his clubhouse chair hours before Tuesday night's game against the Milwaukee Brewers and talked calmly about the whispers about him and suspected PED use.

The 30-year-old right-hander told USA Today that he has "heard some of the best players in the league question whether I've taken steroids or not."

Arrieta, who pitched a no-hitter last Thursday at Cincinnati, starts Wednesday night against the Brewers.

"If people call into question my work ethic, that's fine," he said. "I know what I'm doing behind the scenes. It is somewhat flattering especially when some of those comments are coming from some of the best players in the game."

Arrieta enjoyed a breakout season last year, when he went 22-6 with a 1.77 ERA on the way to the National League Cy Young Award. Included was a no-hitter on Aug. 30 against the Dodgers.

He is off to a 4-0 start this year with an 0.87 ERA. Arrieta is a noted workout freak, mixing in Pilates with other strenuous activities.

"I guess everybody has become suspicious," Maddon said. "But I just challenge anybody to go with him for his workout program for, I won't even say for a week, I'll say for two days. Just go keep up with him for two days and see what he actually does and see if you could do that particular workout program."

Arrieta has kept a sense of humor about the whole thing.

"I think it's funny because I've always been in good shape," he said. "I just (stunk) early in my career, from a statistical perspective. My body has always been very similar to how it is now. It's just the numbers, the results, are different, so people want to question things. That's just kind of the nature of sports."

On a more serious note, he said he could see himself favoring less-forgiving penalties for illegal PED use.

"I think guys will continue to do so unless the penalty is maybe stiffer," he said. "I personally don't think that guys should get multiple chances when they fail a steroid test. The fine print has to be ironed out. It has to be circumstantial. I know there have been situations where somebody took something maybe unknowingly.

"But if it's a blatant attempt to cheat the system with a serious steroid, I think maybe so."

Lineup scratch:

Catcher Miguel Montero was a late lineup scratch because of what Joe Maddon termed a stiff back. David Ross started in Montero's place. Maddon said he was undecided on who would catch Jake Arrieta in Game 2 of the series.

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