Miguel Montero Wants You To Know It's Jake Arrieta's Fault the Nationals Had 7 Stolen Bases in 4 Innings

Jake Arrieta took the loss in Tuesday’s Battle of the Cy Youngs against Max Scherzer and the Nationals. As if getting the scarlet L stamped on his record wasn’t bad enough, his catcher, Miguel Montero, wants Arrieta to take some of his bad stats too. The Nationals set a franchise record by stealing 7 bases and Montero thinks the world should know that was Arrieta’s fault.

"“The reason why they were running left and right today because they know he was slow to the plate,” a visibly frustrated Montero said. “It really sucked because the stolen bases go to me, and when you really look at it, the pitcher doesn’t give me any time.”"

That’s rough. For Montero I mean. You’ve got to give him a chance to throw out runners. I mean, he’s only done it once in 32 attempts this season. His caught stealing percentage currently sits at .031, the lowest number of his career and the 5th consecutive season his percentage has dropped.

This might be a problem for the Cubs. Starter Wilson Contreras has also give up 31 stolen bases this season (in twice as many games). Contreras and Montero are both tied for the second-most stolen bases allowed in the NL this season. At least Contreras has thrown out 15 runners.

Contreras and Montero’s 62 total stolen bases allowed is tied with the Oakland Athletics for the most in MLB. At 35-42, the A’s are in last place in the AL West. The defending world champions are just a game out of 1st in the NL Central.