Why the Cubs need to ‘fix’ an ace who’s 12-2 with a 2.10 ERA

CINCINNATI – Where does Jake Arrieta go from here? Besides New York for his next start on Saturday?

The National League’s reigning Cy Young Award winner owns the third-best ERA in baseball and has more wins than anybody else in the National League.

But the right-hander admittedly is irked by ongoing issues leading to high pitch counts and early exits from starts – including a season-high five walks Monday against the Reds in a five-inning start that he and his teammates pulled from the dumpster by beating on Reds pitching for 11 runs.

With the Cubs struggling to find a bullpen mix capable of stringing back-to-back quality innings — much less three or more — it’s a bad time for their ace to turn into a five-inning proposition when he takes the ball.

Since his no-hitter April 21, half his 12 starts have lasted just five innings because of stress situations and pitch counts — including the last two and four of the last seven.

“He’s struggling with command, man,” manager Joe Maddon said. “You look at the [radar] guns and the readings on the board, and everything’s normal. He’s just not on top of his fastball, regarding where it’s going, and that’s it. There’s nothing else.

“Fortunately he’s not hurt. His stuff’s still really good. It’s just about locating it and command of it, and that’s obviously a big thing, but that’s also something that I think we can fix.”

So does Arrieta, who called it an “easy fix” after his previous start and then after Monday’s start said, “still is.”

But it’s obviously easier said than done.

He hasn’t had a start without a walk since his second outing of the season, with at least four in six of his last 13 starts. He has 19 walks in his last 31 innings.

“I wasn’t happy about it, obviously,” he said after Monday’s start, in which four of the five walks came around to score.

“But it could be worse. I’m not getting slapped around the yard,” he added. “Pound the strike zone down with my stuff and we’ll be fine.”

It’s that simple. But, then again, nothing at this level is ever that easy.

Since the best 20-game finish (0.86 ERA) in history last year, Arrieta has rewritten the book on how to try to beat him this year: Don’t swing.

At least not early in the count. Not until he proves he can get ahead.

“It’s not necessarily fastball command or off-speed command; it’s getting ahead in the count,” he said. “When I see guys up there just auto-take first pitch, and I’m out of the strike zone, that’s what I put the emphasis on.

“Aggressiveness early in the count is something I have to establish and get back to. But there’s worse problems to have. It’s just a hundredth of a second, or tenth of a second, off in the timing to get back to that spot.

“I’ll work these next four days to get that.”

Meanwhile, his stuff, his ability to compete without top command and his prodigious lineup of teammates has him on track for his first All-Star selection and in position to compete for another Cy Young Award if he makes that fix.

“There’s going to be that light-bulb moment, and ‘I can’t believe I’ve not been doing this’ kind of a thing,’ “ Maddon said.

“And it’s nobody’s fault,” the manager said. “It just happens. It’s not his fault. It’s not the pitching coach. It just happens. Athletes go through this. You lose feel for whatever reason and then you regain it and all of a sudden you’re yourself again.

“We’ll just keep working at it. This guy’s an insatiable workaholic. He’ll fix it.”