Frustration, thy name is Arrieta

Could anything be more frustrating than watching Jake Arrieta pitch?

It’s nothing new, for sure, as O’s fans have been waiting for Jake to become a top-of-the-rotation – or even just a reliable 4 or 5 – starter for going on four years now.

In a way, Arrieta mirrors another famous arm in town, that of Baltimore Ravens QB Joe Flacco.

Ravens fans were frustrated with Flacco for years, as he would show flashes of being one of the best quarterbacks in the league at times, but would always have a horrible game or half or quarter where the purple faithful were left questioning whether or not this guy could really bring a Lombardi Trophy back to Baltimore.

While Flacco, of course, finally found his consistency at the best possible time – during the 2012 postseason – he drove Ravens fans crazy with his inconsistency for quite a while.

Such is the case with Jake Arrieta…flashes of brilliance, followed by stretches of complete ineptitude.

It’s not just that Arrieta can’t find consistency from start to start, but he can’t find it from inning to inning.

Yesterday was perhaps the best example of the bipolar Jake Arrieta, and was a pretty solid microcosm of his career to this point.

In the first inning, he threw 14 pitches and mowed down Carl Crawford and Mark Ellis on strikeouts.

In the second, he threw just nine pitches and was through two in 23. You were thinking that Jake could easily pitch into the seventh – or even eighth – inning. With the team jumping out to the early 3-0 lead, Birds fans were breaking out the brooms.

Then the Mr. Hyde to Jake’s Dr. Jekyll showed up.

In the third, Jake walked the leadoff guy, then issued two more free passes around a single and a sacrifice fly. It took him a ridiculous 37 (!!!) pitches to get through the frame. He lucked out a bit to only allow the one run, so the O’s still led 3-1.

Jake was back on point in the fourth inning, retiring the side in order with two K’s in 15 pitches.

So now he’s at 75 pitches through four innings – not great, but he should still be able to get into the sixth, right?

Nope, “bad Jake” trotted out of the dugout to take the mound in the fifth, when Arrieta walked the leadoff man on four pitches, plunked the next guy, then issued another free pass, in that order.

Are you kidding me, man?

All three runners eventually scored, and the Dodgers had the lead for good.

Arrieta’s final line: 4.0 IP, 2 H, 5 ER, 5 BB, 1 HBP, 6 K

That’s a pretty nice trick right there – giving up five earned runs on just two hits.

But that’s Jake – his own worst enemy, all the time. For the season, he’s pitched 19.0 innings and given up only 15 hits, yet because of his 16 walks (most in the AL), he’s allowed 14 earned runs for a pretty ERA of 6.63.

Jake took responsibility (as he always does, to his credit) after the game, per Roch Kubatko:

Orioles starter Jake Arrieta didn’t point fingers and he didn’t make excuses. He took full blame for today’s 7-4 loss to the Dodgers at Camden Yards.

“Really feel like the Dodgers didn’t beat us today, I beat us. It’s unacceptable,” he said.

He later added, “I’m so close to being so good and everybody knows it. And that’s what’s frustrating.”

It is frustrating, and a bit sad, to watch Jake self-destruct out there on the hill.

For O’s fans though, it’s unfortunately not a bit surprising at this point.