Sports

Cubs Ace Jake Arrieta Wants In The Home Run Derby

June 13, 2016 / 9:29 AM CDT / CBS Chicago

(CBS) Cubs ace Jake Arrieta has experienced quite the adrenaline rush in having fired a pair of no-hitters and taking the mound in a win-or-go-home wild-card game in the past year, and now he may be seeking a new way to top that.

Arrieta wants to participate in baseball's Home Run Derby this All-Star break. Arrieta has joined Giants ace Madison Bumgarner in expressing interest.

"If he's in it, I need to be in it, that's for sure," Arrieta said after Saturday's game in Atlanta, via the Chicago Tribune.

"(Bumgarner) can hit the ball a long way, but I can, too."

The National League Cy Young winner in 2015, Arrieta has three career home runs and set a goal to hit five this season. His lone home of 2016 was a 442-foot shot in Arizona during his second start of the season in April.

Arrieta works at his craft at the plate, and that work helped inspire the thought to join the derby field.

"I honestly think that would probably be the most adrenaline I would ever have," Arrieta told the Tribune. "Hitting in a home run derby with no cage in front of 40,000 people, I don't know how those guys do it. I think it would be mentally and physically draining but a really fun experience."

When asked about it Sunday, Cubs manager Joe Maddon didn't express worry over the injury factor.

"Everybody is afraid of injuries," he said. "Everybody is afraid everybody is going to get hurt every day. I don't subscribe to that theory, so I don't worry about it from that perspective. If in fact these guys were going to do something like that, it'd have to be a toned-down version, not a full gorilla Home Run Derby. I know they tried to cut that back last year. It could be entertaining, a pitchers version. I don't deny that."

Arrieta on Saturday improved to 10-1, and he sports a 1.86 ERA.

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