Feb. 21--The resumes of the Cubs' top three starting pitchers include 14 seasons of at least 200 innings and a 16-12 postseason record that includes a 5-1 mark in World Series competition.
But despite Jake Arrieta's youth and dominance that earned him the only Cy Young Award among the threesome, manager Joe Maddon will pay more attention to him than to Jon Lester or John Lackey as the Cubs prepare for what they hope will be a deeper postseason run to the Series.
"All our (top three) are 200-plus inning guys," Maddon said Saturday after the first workout for pitchers and catchers. "The guys beyond that are all capable of 200 or close to 200. But Jake requires the most attention, based on his significant jump last year."
Including the playoffs, Arrieta threw 92 more innings in 2015 from his previous career-high 156 2/3 the year before. The ace admits he felt fatigued in his final two postseason starts and agrees completely with the club's decision to delay his first spring start. He's also OK with being pulled sooner than normal in certain regular-season situations in an effort to preserve his strength and effectiveness.
That is, let the bullpen do its thing to close out games.
"Those games are much more important than for me to get eight or nine innings," said Arrieta, who threw a National League-leading four complete games and blanked the Pirates in the NL wild-card.
"It looks good on paper, but a ring looks a little bit better at the end of November."
Cubs starters posted a 60-39 record and 3.36 ERA last season, but the addition of Lackey, 37, has bolstered the Cubs' World Series hopes, and now the club is leaning to sliding Jason Hammel into the fourth rotation spot after his erratic 2015 season.
"We have a good pitching staff, not that last year was bad," catcher Miguel Montero said. "This year should be even better. We just have to prove it on the field."
Much of the attention will shift from Lester, 32, who admitted after last season that he didn't pitch to the "fullest" of what he expected in 2015. The expectation is that Lester, who had an 11-12 record and 3.34 ERA, will pitch better. But Arrieta took exception to any perception that Lester had a disappointing season.
"He will be better," Arrieta said. "And not that he wasn't good last year. And adding Lackey is a huge boost for us. He's a competitor and will get after it."
A Red Sox coach observed Lackey's influence on Lester during their 2013 World Series run and David Ross, who caught them that year, believes Lackey's toughness and competitiveness will carry over.
"We're going to learn a lot from him," Ross said.
Manager Joe Maddon's association with Lackey, 37, dates back to 2002 as the Angels bench coach when Lackey, then a rookie, beat the Giants in Game 7 of the World Series. Lackey has won 156 regular-season games in the 12 years since and Maddon is aware of his workload over the years.
"He has had a lot of innings, and he's not 27 anymore," Maddon said. "But he and I have a good relationship where we can talk. I know John can get upset at different moments. I kind of enjoy that, actually. We've had beers over that. I'm looking forward to working with him again."
Arrieta likely won't argue with Maddon to stay in games.
"Toward the end of the season and last two starts specifically, I had a noticeable point when I could tell I was a little out of gas," Arrieta said. "This season, it's very wise to monitor things early to preserve for October."
mgonzales@tribpub.com
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