Jake Arrieta dealing with bone spur adds to list of troubles surrounding Phillies
By Dan Parzych
The potential loss of Jake Arrieta for the season is the last thing the Philadelphia Phillies need to be dealing with during the final stretch.
After all of the high expectations heading into 2019 thanks to a successful offseason led by the signing of Bryce Harper, the last thing the Philadelphia Phillies expected was to be sitting in third place in the NL East at the All-Star break.
From their inconsistent play on offense at times to the pitching out of the bullpen struggling to be reliable, there are plenty of reasons to blame behind the struggles of the Phillies so far, although there’s still plenty of time to turn things around.
Not to mention, it’s no secret that Jake Arrieta has failed to live up to expectations during his second season in Philadelphia after the veteran pitcher recently suffered his seventh loss of the year on Saturday against the New York Mets.
Next. 3 trade targets for Eagles from Broncos. dark
Rightfully so, expectations were high for Arrieta entering year two with the Phillies since he joined the team late last season, and was expected to benefit from already having a season of playing with the team under his belt.
While there have been numerous times in which Arrieta has looked like the kind of pitcher Philadelphia needs to be a serious contender in the National League, the argument can be made that the good hasn’t come close to weighing out the bad.
Take a look at the previous three starts for Arrieta, and how he’s allowed 14 earned runs in 16.1 innings of action, showing why the frustration has hit new levels as of late.
To top it off, Arrieta and the Phillies recently received the unfortunate news over how the pitcher is dealing with a bone spur in his elbow that may not be able to wait until the offseason to be addressed.
Even if the case can be made by Arrieta that pitching through the pain would be possible, Philadelphia would then face the difficult decision of whether it would be worth the risk, especially with some of his recent performances.
With the Phillies already facing a high level of pressure after the All-Star break to put themselves in better position to move closer to first place in the NL East, this latest news surrounding Arrieta just made things even more complicated.
Unless some sort of miracle happens in which Arrieta is able to play through the pain at a high level, this situation isn’t looking good for Philadelphia.