Jake Arrieta posing for ESPN The Magazine’s annual Body Issue is like you and me posing for the breathing issue.
Saying that the Cubs’ ace works on his physique would be the understatement of the year. As manager Joe Maddon has told us (and told us), nobody works harder in the gym than Arrieta does. Basically, every move the guy makes is a pose. He moves this way, that muscle bulges. He moves that way, he’s early-days Schwarzenegger pointing the way to the beach.
The only surprise is that it has taken the two sides this long to get together. There are two standard photos of Arrieta, not counting that day he wore the onesie: Jake in his Cubs uniform, which cannot contain him, and Jake in a sleeveless T-shirt, his biceps and deltoids celebrating their freedom. Did ESPN not notice this before? I don’t know which side called first, but it probably doesn’t matter. And no word yet on whether ESPN 1000’s David Kaplan rubbed in the oil during the photo shoot.
The Body Issue hits newsstands July 8. There is no truth to the rumor that the reigning National League Cy Young Award winner is changing his name to “Naked Arrieta.’’ Then again, the rumor won’t go away.
