by Jonah Keri
Article Reprint
Zero. Point. Seven. Five.
That’s become Jake Arrieta’s signature stat; 0.75 is the lowest second-half ERA in the history of baseball. Yet somehow it doesn’t capture just how dominant Chicago’s 29-year-old right-hander has been as of late. So, let’s try this instead: Since August 1, counting his four-hit shutout of the Pirates in the wild-card game, Arrieta has fired 97.1 innings, struck out 100 batters, walked 14, and allowed 46 hits, one home run, and an opponents’ batting average of .131. His ERA over that span?