First things first: We’re generally not fans of the “You Won’t Believe What ACTRESS X Looks Like Now!” post conceit that makes up roughly 18 percent of the Internet content grist mill these days.

But there are times when someone in the baseball world does change their appearance and their new look is pretty noteworthy. At least noteworthy enough for us to post. This is one of them.

Jake Arrieta’s wife Brittany tweeted a picture of her husband on Sunday sans the big black beard that became his trademark as he became one of baseball’s best pitchers. (Even his other style point — the flat brimmed cap — is nowhere to be found in this pic.)

Boy, he sure looks a lot friendlier, doesn’t he?

More Paul Rudd than Paul Bunyan.

To save you some time from scrolling up and down to compare, here’s a side-by-side:

We should note that this isn’t a new thing for Arrieta: Brittany Arrieta also tweeted a picture of her beardless hubby in the days following the Cubs’ elimination from the 2015 postseason. We even wrote a post about it.

Still, we’ve grown so accustomed to seeing Arrieta with his beard during the season that it’s still a shock once shearing day rolls around.

It’s actually a rather ingenious plan, too, as his profile has grown after the 2015 Cy Young and winning two games in the 2016 World Series. This approach basically allows him to hide in plain sight during the offseason.

Arrieta may have pitched his last game as a Cub after his performance in the team’s only NLCS victory (Game 4) as he’s a free agent. Here’s hoping whatever team that signs him next will take his word when he shows up to collect all the dough that’s coming to him.

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