Sep 11, 2026 · 1 hr 14 min · 11 segments
On the latest episode of Let's Play 162, Jack Gallagher and Chris Deeley take a break from 2016 Cubs rewatches to assess, compare and contrast the two greatest single-player performances in a season…
Chris DeeleyHost
Jack GallagherHost
okay so and this is This is a kind of preview to, I think, what I think about the question as a whole, really.
Because in the second half of the 2015 MLB season, Jake Arrieta pitched 15 games, 107 innings, with a 0.75 ERA.
As incredible as what PCA has done is, and it is unbelievable, nobody had done what Jake Arrieta did.
Since maybe, I think there was one fella who'd had a similar ERA streak in 1916.
I think it's greatness versus, I mean, it's greatness versus greatness, but it's greatness versus just sheer implausibility.
Even if you take away the E part of ERA, if you take away the earned runs, Jake Arrieta had the best half season of any pitcher in baseball history.
In terms of runs allowed per nine innings, better than Bob Gibson's 1968, the season that led to the mound being lowered.
But, I mean, even now, you wouldn't have someone... doing what jay carrier did because you can't do what jay carrier did it's it's not possible for a human being to to to throw a baseball that well so that's that's that's that's broadly where i land how do you feel because i have some staggering peter armstrong numbers as well
I mean, look, look, I think perhaps my favorite stat about the Arrieta one is it's the best that any pitcher has ever thrown since the all-star break was invented.
Like the last time someone was so good, the all-star game was not even a thing.
Like, what do you say about that? And I get it, like the stats, like when you even drill down from like, August onwards he like got even better his ERA from like the start of August to the end of the season was like 0.41 over 88 and a half innings it's just implausibly good and I think I think one of the things that really stands out to me for Ariad at this And it's why I do have a wee bit of bone to pick with Jacob Mazeroski as well with this because Jacob Mazeroski pitches until it starts going a wee bit wrong and then they pull him every time.
okay so and this is This is a kind of preview to, I think, what I think about the question as a whole, really.
Because in the second half of the 2015 MLB season, Jake Arrieta pitched 15 games, 107 innings, with a 0.75 ERA.
As incredible as what PCA has done is, and it is unbelievable, nobody had done what Jake Arrieta did.
Since maybe, I think there was one fella who'd had a similar ERA streak in 1916.
I think it's greatness versus, I mean, it's greatness versus greatness, but it's greatness versus just sheer implausibility.
Even if you take away the E part of ERA, if you take away the earned runs, Jake Arrieta had the best half season of any pitcher in baseball history.
In terms of runs allowed per nine innings, better than Bob Gibson's 1968, the season that led to the mound being lowered.
But, I mean, even now, you wouldn't have someone... doing what jay carrier did because you can't do what jay carrier did it's it's not possible for a human being to to to throw a baseball that well so that's that's that's that's broadly where i land how do you feel because i have some staggering peter armstrong numbers as well
I mean, look, look, I think perhaps my favorite stat about the Arrieta one is it's the best that any pitcher has ever thrown since the all-star break was invented.
Like the last time someone was so good, the all-star game was not even a thing.
Like, what do you say about that? And I get it, like the stats, like when you even drill down from like, August onwards he like got even better his ERA from like the start of August to the end of the season was like 0.41 over 88 and a half innings it's just implausibly good and I think I think one of the things that really stands out to me for Ariad at this And it's why I do have a wee bit of bone to pick with Jacob Mazeroski as well with this because Jacob Mazeroski pitches until it starts going a wee bit wrong and then they pull him every time.
The rest of this transcript — segmented and speaker-labeled, so you land on the exact moment something was said
Search every transcript — by keyword, by phrase, or by meaning, across every show Radar indexes
Trends — what is surging across podcasts, measured against its own baseline
Alerts — when a name you follow appears in a newly indexed episode
No account is needed to search Radar.