Just look at that face. Gone is the glabrous and grinning visage, replaced by a hirsute headshot just as surely as an immature pitching repertoire gave way to a collection of pitches that make opponents and viewers alike weak in the knees. Jake Arrieta stopped cutting his beard and started cutting his pitches, and the results have been obvious when he takes the mound.
With more than a full month remaining in the 2015 season, Arrieta has already eclipsed a his career high win (10 in 2011 and ’14)) and innings-pitched (156.2 in 2014) totals and is on track to best the 2.