Jake Arrieta is a bull. Talk to him in person, and you realize how intense this guy is. That intensity matched with really good talent, will make this guy successful. Hell, in his first start against the Yankees, he didn’t flinch. He snapped a 10-game losing streak for the O’s against a tough lienup.

Jake didn’t have a spectacular 2010 campaign, but he showed improvement. He finished with a 4.66 era, going 6-6 with 52 k’s. His biggest struggle was walking batters. His 48 BB’s almost guaranteed that he was battling every inning. While there were many successes, there were also those game changeers because he gave up that huge hit.

While the spring has been short, it seems that Arrieta has improved on his control. In his last start, he struck out 6 and walked 0. Jake has the pitches to get major league batters out, it is just a matter of execution.

On a side note, it will be interesting to see how much facial hair Jake will sport with the new, relaxed facial hair policy.