Cubs hoping Arrieta can get back on track

CHICAGO — Is Jake Arrieta all right?

Simply put, that’s the biggest question for the Cubs as they head into the second half of the season, well positioned to justify their status as World Series favorites.

It’s easy to imagine them competing favorably against the best teams in the Major Leagues if Arrieta can approach the epic level of performance when he was at his best. For almost a full year — from June 21, 2015, through May 31 — he was 25-1 with a 1.09 ERA.

He no-hit the Dodgers in Los Angeles and the Reds in Cincinnati and for good measure annihilated the Pirates in the National League Wild Card Game last October. You don’t worry that much about Clayton Kershaw, Madison Bumgarner, Max Scherzer or Noah Syndergaard when Arrieta is strong and full of self belief, going at hitters with his death stare and electrifying slider.

But Arrieta’s been mortal since about the time the ivy started flourishing on the Wrigley Field walls, going 3-4 with a 4.81 ERA in his last seven starts.

“It’s a confidence issue for me right now,” Joe Maddon said on Monday night, before Jon Lester and Anthony Rizzo carried the Cubs to a 5-1 victory over the Mets.

Arrieta lost to the Mets’ Syndergaard in Game 2 of the NL Championship Series last season. He faces him on Tuesday night at Wrigley.

This national showcase is a golden opportunity for the 30-year-old to reassert his dominance over hitters and turn the conversation back to the Cubs’ need to extend his contract before he reaches free agency at the end of 2017.

So we’re back to that one question: Is Arrieta all right?

He admitted he was feeling tired during his trip to the All-Star Game, where he didn’t pitch. The Cubs slotted him into the back of their rotation, not the front, so he’ll be working …

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