CHICAGO – Admitting he was fatigued in the playoffs Cy Young award winner Jake Arrieta believes now that he has thrown nearly 250 innings in a season he’ll be better for it the next time around.

“I think that throwing that many innings this year after not being over, I’m not sure the total, about 170-180 ... you can train and you can prepare and you be in top physical condition but without having a workload like that under your belt it’s natural for your body to wear down or let you know, ‘Hey, we’re getting into an area we haven’t been before,’” Arrieta said on a conference call Wednesday after winning the Cy Young.

“The fatigue did set in. I’ll be the first to tell you.”

Jake Arrieta got roughed up in the postseason after his wild-card shutout of the Pirates. AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast

Arrieta threw 229 innings in the regular season which was 73 more than he ever had thrown. He added 19.2 more in the postseason where he slowly started to fade after shutting out the Pittsburgh Pirates in the wild card round. In his final two starts he gave up eight runs in 10.2 innings. It’s one reason the Cubs gave him an extra day off between the division series and the National League championship series though it wasn’t enough. The New York Mets scored three runs on him in the first inning in Game 2 as part of their series sweep.

“Physically my body was in better shape than it’s ever been,” Arrieta said. “There was nothing alarming to me. This was something that is very comparable to dead arm, something a lot of pitchers get in spring training. Physically my body was in a great spot. I just had that moment in time where I’m around 240 [innings], something I’ve never been at before. I felt great but maybe it’s just something I had to adjust to. But going into next season, having that workload under my belt, is only going to help me prepare for next season.”

Arrieta is always tweaking his conditioning program and he’ll do the same again this winter with a longer season in mind. Avoiding injury is also a concern when the workload increases that much. His agent, Scott Boras, recently voiced his concern as his studies show, generally, when a pitcher throws 30 to 40 more innings than his previous high there can be some negative effect on the arm. Including playoffs Arrieta was seven innings shy of throwing 100 more innings, but his unique workout program may make him the exception to the norm.

“I tweak it all the time,” Arrieta said. “I analyze my past season, the positives, the things I think I can do better, the things that can be changed slightly, the way I train. I’m very functional-based. I like to train the way that my body moves in competition. That's the most important aspect of my training. How do I replicate what I do on the mound 100 to 130 times. How do I train the way?”

Contract talks: Arrieta reiterated what Boras indicated at the GM meetings: He and the Cubs will talk about a contract extension, but it’s unclear how far those talks will go this offseason considering Arrieta has two more years before free agency.

“I think it’s something, as time goes on, it’s inevitable,” Arrieta said of sitting down with the Cubs. “I don’t think there’s a tremendous amount of angst on my part to get something done immediately. That doesn’t mean something can’t happen. Really, my focus right now is, I know I’m still with the Chicago Cubs. I couldn’t be more excited and happy for the opportunity we’re going to have with the team in the future. If it i happens, it does. We’ll address it. If it doesn’t I’m a Chicago Cub regardless. We have to see where things go in the near future.”

Arrieta is due a huge raise off last season’s $3.6 million salary but that’s likely to come through the arbitration process instead of a long-term deal, though neither side is ruling anything out right now.

“You see that a lot of with some guys under team control who have some success,” Arrieta said. “You see things happen. You see the Giants locked up [Brandon] Crawford recently. I think he was about to go into his second year of arbitration. Those things happen…If nothing does transpire then we proceed to spring training, and, like I said, I’m a still a Cub.”