Arrieta may consider surgery for bone spur

After losing three out of four to the Giants in San Francisco, the Phillies have an off-day on Monday. On Sunday, it looked like they would be able to escape Oracle Park with a series split, but pitching woes prevented that from happening. Jake Arrieta was given a 5-2 lead and immediately gave it up. Nick Pivetta gave up the go-ahead hit to the opposing relief pitcher, Will Smith, who was at the plate for the first time in his career.

It was another deflating loss. Even before Pivetta was in the game, Jake Arrieta was having problems with his command. After the game, he told reporters that he was unable to throw anything offspeed effectively. Hearing this could lead the Phillies to shut down the veteran right-hander for the season, but Arrieta isn’t thinking about that quite yet. He plans to take the off day Monday to see how his arm responds and potentially consider a conversation about what’s next.

“I don’t necessarily want to make a decision right now,” Arrieta said. “We’ll have the off-day [Monday] and maybe have a conversation on Tuesday.”

Since Arrieta revealed his bone spur after his start on July 6, he had been able to battle through. He’s allowed two runs or less in four of his last six starts. That being said, he has not been able to get through the sixth inning since June 30.

“It hurts every day,” Arrieta said. “I just wasn’t able to get through my share of the outing and preserve the lead.”

To say Arrieta’s tenure in Philadelphia has been underwhelming would be an understatement. He was brought in to be the steady #2 or #3 guy behind Aaron Nola and he hasn’t given the Phillies the consistency they’ve needed.

Arrieta signed a three-year, $75 million contract in March 2018 with the Phillies. He has the ability to opt out after the 2019 season, but it’s unlikely he’ll go somewhere else and made the $20 million he’s owed in 2020. In 55 starts with the Phils, Arrieta is 18-19 with a 4.26 ERA.