Jake Arrieta

Growing up in Missouri and Texas, Jake Arrieta attained baseball success in high school. He wound up being drafted by the Cincinnati Reds after he graduated, but he denied the selection and attended college instead. After a year of junior college, he was drafted again, this time by the Milwaukee Brewers. Once again, he turned down the selection and transferred to Texas Christian University, where he dominated as a part of the Horned Frogs' team. In 2007, he was drafted yet again, now by the Baltimore Orioles. This one stuck. He started in the Orioles' farm system in 2007, slowly rising through the ranks. He even took time off to compete in the 2008 Olympics. He made his major-league debut for the Orioles in 2010. Arrieta never found success in Baltimore, and his tenure there ended in 2013 when he was traded to the Chicago Cubs. The 2014 season was the start of Arrieta's dominance. While the Cubs weren't a great team, Arrieta clearly turned a corner into becoming a stronger pitcher. In the 2015 season, he pitched his first no-hitter, won 22 games, and won the National League Cy Young Award. The next season, he picked up right where he left off, pitching his second no-hitter in April. In the postseason, Arrieta hit a home run off of the San Francisco Giants' dominant pitcher Madison Bumgarner en route to the Cubs victory over them in the National League Divisional Series. In the World Series against the Cleveland Indians, Arrieta won two games as the Cubs won their first title in 109 years.