Chicago Cubs' Arrieta processes good outcomes

Cubs manager Joe Maddon often talks about being focused on the "process" rather than the "outcome."

But what does that look like?

It looks like Jake Arrieta.

The ace of the Chicago Cubs' pitching staff has enjoyed an outcome this season of historic proportion. He ended the regular season with a record of 22-6 and an ERA of 1.77. His ERA of 0.75 since the all-star break is the lowest post-break ERA in big-league history.

Because of that, Arrieta may have vaulted himself into the favorite's position for the Cy Young Award in the National League. He also earned the start for Wednesday night's one-game wild-card playoff game at Pittsburgh.

Arrieta became the ace of the Cubs' pitching staff last year, and he never relinquished the title, even after the Cubs signed Jon Lester to be their ace.

How did it happen? You need to look at the process.

It's a process that's painful to watch sometimes as Arrieta mixes in Pilates, yoga and other strenuous physical workouts. As he begins his bullpen session before a start, he will drop down to the grass and knock off a few pushups before he goes out and knocks off opposing batters.

"That's the most beneficial way to go about it, from my experience," he said over the weekend in Milwaukee. "You have to have something you can rely on and lean on when things aren't going necessarily the way you'd like as far as results are concerned. That's when a lot of players will question their process or the way that they go about preparing for certain situations.

"For me, having the routine and trust is the right way to go about preparing for my starts, is something that gives players a lot of added confidence. And that's where I'm at."

Where he's at is a pretty good place. But it wasn't always so. The Cubs traded for Arrieta in July 2013, sending reliable pitcher Scott Feldman and catcher Steve Clevenger to the Baltimore Orioles for Arrieta and reliever Pedro Strop.

At the time, Arrieta was struggling to find his command. The Cubs sent him to Class AAA Iowa, recalled him for a start before sending him back to Iowa. In mid-August of that year, he returned to stay.

"You saw a guy who could help us at that time with what our needs were," recalled Cubs pitching coach Chris Bosio, who joined the staff for the 2012 season under then-manager Dale Sveum. "We were extremely thin on the pitching staff as a whole. We saw a guy that could help us.

"Nobody saw this coming. But you saw a guy athletic, with good stuff, who with what he had going in our system we felt like he could help."

Arrieta's only full big-league season with the Orioles was 2011, when he went 10-8 with a 5.05 ERA. The biggest difference between then and now is that Arrieta has lowered his walks percentage from 11.3 to 5.5. His strikeouts-to-walks ratio has jumped from 1.58 in 2011 to 4.92 in 2015.

But he said it wasn't like he woke up one day and said "enough" of going back and forth from the big leagues to Triple-A and "enough" of being inconsistent.

Instead he maintained his work ethic - the process - even though he stepped it up last off-season with the Pilates.

"I've always done that; the work ethic has never changed," he said. "The process for me is understanding and learning how to work smarter rather than trying to do more than is necessary to feel like I'm doing things above and beyond the way I should be rather than preparing smart, preparing my body in a way that prepares me the best way possible for each start.

"Spending my time wisely is something that I've learned how to do at a really high level, and not waste any time on things that I don't need to put added focus on. It's focus on the appropriate tasks at hand, cover all my bases there, and at the end of the day I know that I'm as prepared as I possibly can be."

Because of that preparation, Bosio gives all the credit to Arrieta.

"One hundred percent," the coach said. "He's listened to all the suggestions and he's taken the criticism. When he first got here, I still remember the first couple starts he had down in Iowa, it was a struggle. He's worked his tail off like all these guys have, and he's a big reason why we are where we are."

In addition to the hard work, Arrieta's success on the mound is due to him commanding his fastball better, enabling him then to work off his other pitches, including a devastating cutter and an effective curveball.

"It's everything," Bosio said. "It starts with fastball command. He's minimizing his walks. He's got different looks. He's got different gears, which we try to teach all of our guys, guys that are here and guys that have come through trades from other organizations."

The end result has turned Maddon into a huge backer of Arrieta for the Cy Young.

"I'm seeing an incredible performance," the manager said. "The full body of work is staggering. I've not seen anything like this, the combination of pure stuff and results. It's incredible to watch."

Arrieta's signature moment this year was the no-hitter he threw at the Los Angeles Dodgers on Aug. 30 in a nationally televised Sunday night game.

Cubs president Theo Epstein referenced Arrieta's focus on the process as helping him achieve the no-hitter.

"That no-hitter stands out because anyone who has followed Jake and his development would say that no-hitter is earned," Epstein said. "That seemed almost inevitable, but he worked his way toward it. He earned it. And it was so well deserved. It was the opposite of the fluke no-hitter that just jumps up.

"He handled it with such class. Throughout his transformation, he's been a model member of the organization, both on the field and off the field. He treats his teammates really well, appreciates being a Cub. He treats the fans well.

"He's appreciated for what he has and what he's earned, understands how much hard work there is, what lies ahead for him, and he has put the team's interest above his own.

"It was just one of those moments where you sit back and appreciate a special person, a special time, a special accomplishment."

• Follow Bruce's baseball reports on Twitter @BruceMiles2112.

The stuff of an ace

Cubs pitcher Jake Arrieta piled up these accomplishments in 2015:

• First pitcher in big-league history to finish a season with 20-straight quality starts since the earned run became an official stat in 1913.

• Went 16-1 with an 0.86 ERA (14 earned runs in 147 innings) with just 27 walks and 147 strikeouts in his final 20 starts.

• Compiled 0.75 ERA (9 earned runs in 107⅓ innings) in 15 starts after the all-star break, the lowest post-break ERA in major-league history.

• Opponents hit just .185 against him this season, best in the majors, while his 1.77 ERA ranked second to the Dodgers' Zack Greinke (1.66). Arrieta's 0.86 WHIP is just behind Greinke's 0.84 WHIP.