Levine: Jake Arrieta Gets Opening Day Nod For Cubs

By Bruce Levine--

MESA, Ariz. (CBS) To the surprise of nobody who follows the Cubs, manager Joe Maddon has declared reigning NL Cy Young winner Jake Arrieta as his Opening Day starter against the Angels on April 4 in Anaheim.

This will be Arrieta's first season-opening start as a Cub and second in his career. He threw seven scoreless innings to lead the Orioles to an Opening Day win in 2012.

Arrieta went 22-6 with a 1.77 ERA for the Cubs in 2015, including a record-setting 0.75 ERA in the second half of the season. left-hander Jon Lester and right-hander John Lackey will follow Arrieta in the rotation.

"We are going with Jake Arrieta on Opening day," Maddon said Tuesday morning, joking that it was a "surprise" to everyone.

"We just told him, and of course he was very excited about it. If you are an Opening Day starter, it carries with it a lot of prestige. We will go with Lester and Lackey after that. I am not quite sure what order that will be yet."

Arrieta's fresh off agreeing to a $10.7-million figure for his 2016 salary, a record number for a second-year arbitration-eligible pitcher.

Arrieta received the blessing from Lester, who was Chicago's opening night start in 2015 and relayed some advice.

"It's good," Lester said. "I am more than happy for Jake. Once you get named, you are very excited. For me, it's one of those days that actually kind of sucks. You have a lot of things going on (distractions). I think it's one of the hardest days of the year to pitch. You're excited, everyone is excited to get the season going. There are a lot of outside things that are hard to control.

"We all knew he was going to get that honor. I am excited for him. It's awesome, a cool deal. It is something not a lot of people get a chance to do, especially for an organization like this one. It will be a cool day."

Maddon has the good fortune of having three pitchers in Arrieta, Lester and Lackey who could be considered aces in 2016. The fourth and fifth spots in the rotation are an open competition, though incumbents Jason Hammel and Kyle Hendricks have the inside track.

"We have a lot of people competing for jobs," Maddon said. "It would be jumping the gun a little bit to name the entire rotation. Let's just play it out and see what we got."

Bruce Levine covers the Cubs and White Sox for 670 The Score and CBSChicago.com. Follow him on Twitter @MLBBruceLevine.