How will Arrieta fare post-surgery?

Take a look at these numbers and guess who they belong to:

Over 12 games: (6-2,) 1.85 ERA, 34 BBs, 64 Ks in 12 games

Were any of your guesses Jake Arrieta?

Don’t lie.

In 2010, the right-hander put up these great numbers during his partial season at Triple-A Norfolk. With many expectations for him to excel when he was called up to the big leagues, Arrieta struggled. He had a .500 record in 2010, followed by a 10-8 record with a 5.05 ERA in 2011.

His season ended in July when he was shut down with a bone spur in his right elbow. This Monday, he threw to a catcher for the first time, and he is expected to be ready to go for Spring Training.

So the obvious question is now, how much can he contribute to help the team?

Only 25-years-old this year, Arrieta was brought into the big leagues in 2010 with two things: the aforementioned, amazing minor league record and a lot of pressure. While no one really expected one person to turn a team around, when he was called up, the team was currently sitting on an oh-so-wonderful record of 17-43. I’m sure he wanted nothing more than to help increase the W’s.

With some experience under his belt, however, the Orioles should expect the much more controlled side of Arrieta. He has spent at least part of the last two seasons with the club; no longer will he be hurried to settle into his role right away, but depending on how much he excels in Spring Training, Arrieta could find himself settled in nicely behind Jeremy Guthrie, Tsuyoshi Wada and Wei-Yin Chen.

GM Buck Showalter is ready for Arrieta to get going going. In an article on Orioles.com, Arrieta is quoted saying, “Buck has stressed this quite often: you can’t be a prospect forever.”

True, true.

But it sure would be nice to have the stat line from when Arrieta was a minor league prospect.