Chicago Cubs pitcher Jake Arrieta is going to face San Francisco Giants ace Madison Bumgarner in Game 3 of the NLDS on Monday, but even faced with the prospect of having to battle one of the best pitchers in postseason history, the Cubs’ hurler isn’t fazed at all.
“I played golf today. I’m not very anxious,” Arrieta told the media at Wrigley Field on Thursday. “We’re just excited to get back on the field. We’re fortunate enough to have health on our side and guys are ready to go.”
Arrieta should have every reason to be nervous, as he gave up seven runs in his final outing of the season and has to go up against Bumgarner, a pitcher that threw a complete game shutout against the New York Mets and has the best ERA in MLB history in must-win elimination games.
Even with all of those obstacles however, Arrieta is focused not on his individual matchup, but on the task at hand.
“It just doesn’t matter anymore what the record is. You can get in with 103 or 85 wins, (but) not it’s a matter of can you beat the opposing team to three wins,” he said. “That’s all we can worry about now. It was nice to win 103 in the regular season, but the only concern now is to win three before the next team does.”
Arrieta will certainly be looking to improve upon his performance from the 2015 postseason. He did throw a complete game shutout to knock the Pittsburgh Pirates out of the playoffs in the wild card game, but he struggled after that, giving up eight runs in 10 and 2/3rds innings against the St. Louis Cardinals and the Mets in his final two starts of the postseason.
