The Jeff Samardzija Thread

[CaliforniaRaisin]

The thing I love about this, is Smardzija is an awesome prospect. And I can see him as he comes to kane county cougers where I live (and sanburg too) and I can finally partake in some cubs minor league games for the first time in my life.

 

From everything Wilken and co. have said, it looks like Samardzija is going to be starting at Daytona.

[A New Era]

where's datona. AA?

 

Anybody interesting in peoria? (reason to go besides sanburg)

[NCCubFan]

where's datona. AA?

Tennessee is AA. Daytona is high-A (Peoria is low-A).

[CaliforniaRaisin]

where's datona. AA?

 

A+

 

Anybody interesting in peoria? (reason to go besides sanburg)

 

Tyler Colvin, Josh Lansford, Mark Pawelek. Maybe Mario Mercedez, Rocky Roquet, Jeremy Papelbon, Jose Ceda. Russ Canzler's power could be interesting too.

[Scotti]

The thing I love about this, is Smardzija is an awesome prospect. And I can see him as he comes to kane county cougers where I live (and sanburg too) and I can finally partake in some cubs minor league games for the first time in my life.

 

From everything Wilken and co. have said, it looks like Samardzija is going to be starting at Daytona.

 

Wilken recently said:

 

“Spring Training will tell us more and more about where he’ll end up starting,” Wilken said. “I don’t think it’s such a bad thing for him to start at Daytona, but after five weeks of pitching in Arizona, maybe all of a sudden we’ll see a more advanced version of Jeff because he’s gotten into a routine and it’s not as inconceivable that he’ll be somewhere else.”

 

AA is "conceivable."

[CaliforniaRaisin]

Heh, I read that last week and figured Wilken was just hyping up Samardzija. Guess I should hold more creedence to it - if it does happen, I'd get really excited about Jeff...

[Chris]

From the Smokies site:

 

Recent signee and former Notre Dame football standout Jeff Samardzija made headlines this past week by signing a 5-year, $10 million contract with the Cubs. He is slated to begin pitching this spring with the Class A Daytona Cubs, but very well could be in Smokies Park by seasons’ end.

[Quakers]

where's datona. AA?

 

A+

 

Anybody interesting in peoria? (reason to go besides sanburg)

 

Tyler Colvin, Josh Lansford, Mark Pawelek. Maybe Mario Mercedez, Rocky Roquet, Jeremy Papelbon, Jose Ceda. Russ Canzler's power could be interesting too.

 

 

Mario Mercedes is someone I will keep my eye on next year. He is agile, has a quick bat, and a strong arm. He seems to know his way around the back of a plate. My problem with him was his size. But, he was young for the NWL. If he fills out his frame, he could be a serious prospect.

[CaliforniaRaisin]

"He has a great sinking fastball," farm director Oneri Fleita said. "He has the makings of a plus-plus slider. He's athletic and instinctive. The thing I liked about him the most is that he's a team player. He wasn't looking for the rock star status he received. I have kids of my own and I hope they are as respectful and humble as he is."

 

Sinking fastball sounds better than a fastball with no movement, and I've heard that it has some good sink on it from a few different places now.

[UK1679666180]

"He has a great sinking fastball," farm director Oneri Fleita said. "He has the makings of a plus-plus slider. He's athletic and instinctive. The thing I liked about him the most is that he's a team player. He wasn't looking for the rock star status he received. I have kids of my own and I hope they are as respectful and humble as he is."

 

Sinking fastball sounds better than a fastball with no movement, and I've heard that it has some good sink on it from a few different places now.

 

Has he thrown much a two seamer, it might be like a Todd Wellemeyer FB, where when he got it up to 98 with a 4 seamer it looked like Farnsworth's, but the two seamer in the low 90s had some sink. There's such an unusual window for someone like him b/c he is so raw.

[CuseCubFan69]

If he does have movement then I take my he will be another Novoa back. If he doesn't have movement then he will have a Novoa type career.

[craig]

you have got to be kidding me "Top 3" you folks are frothing at the mouth like this kid is some kind of "Saviour" How bout we wait till the player has finished a season. Reports of his hitting 99/97 are inconsistent and from reports I have read 92/93. As for starts in Boise and Peoria I would hope he did well as he was 21 playing against players a few years younger than him. I will give him credit that he is a fine athlete but reports also stated he needs a lot of work.

 

I just thought I'd revisit this thread.

 

When the Cubs signed Samardzija, there was a ton of skepticism. Peoria thought expecting more than 92-93 was frothing. Mephtisopheles didn't think he should rank higher than Pawelek, Huseby, or I believe Ryu. There was much comment about his low-K Notre Dame stats, his rawness, his flawed delivery, his age that didn't allow as much development time as an equally raw HSer, etc.. etc.. Just another Novoa. A lot of negativity, as I recall. The assumption seemed to be that it was another dumb move by the Cubs, don't get too interested.

 

I think at this point in spring, after only a couple of spring appearances and just subjective buzz, it appears that the Cubs maybe weren't all that dumb. It does appear that he can throw harder than 92-93, and whatever mechanics flaws he may have had when he was throwing 89-92, those seem to have already diminished.

 

His shoulder might bust next week, obviously.

 

But at this point, I don't have any doubt but that if I had to lose somebody, I'd rather lose Pawelek or Huseby or Ryu (already gone) or Rapada than Samardzija.

 

At this point, I think Guzman, Gallagher, and Veal are the only prospect pitchers I'd value as much or more than Samardz.

 

Maybe the Cubs weren't that dumb after all.

[Mephistopheles]

him quitting football makes a significant difference, but he still hasnt struck out anybody

[CubColtPacer]

him quitting football makes a significant difference, but he still hasnt struck out anybody

 

He struck 1 out today. He also has broken at least 4 bats already in 3 innings of work.

[RichHillIsABeast]

him quitting football makes a significant difference, but he still hasnt struck out anybody

 

He struck 1 out today. He also has broken at least 4 bats already in 3 innings of work.

 

He pitched very well today. A blooper into the OF that was misplayed by Jones allowed the double. Then a couple IF grounders allowed the run to score.

 

The only hard hit ball against Samardzija so far has been the double by Swisher, who needless to say is a really good hitter. Jeff didn't allow a run in that inning btw.

 

But hey, he hasn't struck anyone out yet.

[CaliforniaRaisin]

Kc does have a point though, Samardzija's offspeed stuff at ND was very poor and the conversion to a slider is still in the early stages. The development of his slider will be important to his progression to the majors.

[CubColtPacer]

Kc does have a point though, Samardzija's offspeed stuff at ND was very poor and the conversion to a slider is still in the early stages. The development of his slider will be important to his progression to the majors.

 

Oh, it'd definitely true-Samardzija is not nearly ready yet. His offspeed stuff still has to be developed because he can't be a 1 pitch pitcher for long. There were just so many different stories about his fastball-I think the fastball that all of us are hearing now that he has is better than could ever be hoped for. Most of us thought that he'd average 92-93, and to hear that he's pitching over 95 with regularity is quite a good jump.

[CaliforniaRaisin]

Kc does have a point though, Samardzija's offspeed stuff at ND was very poor and the conversion to a slider is still in the early stages. The development of his slider will be important to his progression to the majors.

 

Oh, it'd definitely true-Samardzija is not nearly ready yet. His offspeed stuff still has to be developed because he can't be a 1 pitch pitcher for long. There were just so many different stories about his fastball-I think the fastball that all of us are hearing now that he has is better than could ever be hoped for. Most of us thought that he'd average 92-93, and to hear that he's pitching over 95 with regularity is quite a good jump.

 

I always thought it'd bounce back to the mid-to-upper-90s. He was hitting the high 90s throughout the Big East tournament last season at ND, it's not surprising it slipped a bit at Boise and Peoria after a few months off. The big thing for me is that his FB has some nice movement.

 

The Cub Reporter - AZ Phil[/url]"]Jeff Samardzija pitched the 5th and 6th innings (25 pitches), and easily had the best outing of the eight pitchers used by the Cubs today. Samardzija gave up a double to lead off th 5th, but it was a broken bat bloop that Jones tried to nab with a diving attemp, but the ball bounded away from him into CF. Two infield ground outs plated the run. Samardzija gave up another double in his second inning of work (a two-out drive off the RF fence by Nick Swisher, the hardest ball hit off Samardzija all day), but the Golden Domer struck out Dan Johnson on a called third strike to end the threat. Samardzija continues to throw hard, and (most importantly) HE THROW STRIKES.

Edited March 8, 2007 by CaliforniaRaisin

[Mephistopheles]

call me negative but hes getting guys out because hitters are behind the pitchers and he has plus velocity. come time for the season that wont happen and he still hasnt made guys swing and miss at all.

[KaiserCesar]

Also, could anyone give insight as to what really causes broken bats? Is it more velocity causing awkward swings or movement or a little bit of both? The reason this could be important is because I think a common knock of Samardzija's fastball is the lack of movement.

[craig]

I'd consider that to be negative. K's are a huge asset. But K's need to be factored relative to HR's and walks. You don't need many K's if you pitch sinking/sliding stuff to contact, the contact doesn't go over the wall, and you don't walk a lot of guys. Sam seems to profile in that direction, as a groundball guy.

 

And, what a guy is now and what he will be, that can change. Z didn't K people when he was in A-ball, but he increased his K's in time. Ditto for Guzman, who was a no-K guy for a while.

 

Obviously it's too soon to know. But I'm curious what Samardz is really throwing. It's very tough for many observers to distinguish 4-seam from 2-seam from hard slider. So one observer might say he threw nothing but fastballs. But it may be that actually he's mixing 2-seam sinkers with 4-seamers, or that he's actually throwing groundball sliders.

 

We'll see. But certainly in my view, I'd clearly value Sam ahead of any of the less-than-Gallagher/Veal guys. I certainly don't perceive him as a guy who has no breaking ball and has nothing more than a straight no-control 92-93 fastball.

[Mephistopheles]

if you cant K low A and college hitters, i dont care if you give up a groundball every time, youre going to suck.

 

also GB rates are inflated in the lower minors, keep that in mind. I also dont seem to remember the splits indicating he was much of a groundball pitcher at all.

[CaliforniaRaisin]

if you cant K low A and college hitters, i dont care if you give up a groundball every time, youre going to suck.

 

Unless the reason you can't K those hitters is because your offspeed stuff is weak but develops as you get older:

 

And, what a guy is now and what he will be, that can change. Z didn't K people when he was in A-ball, but he increased his K's in time. Ditto for Guzman, who was a no-K guy for a while.

[Mephistopheles]

Guzman K'd in the low 7s in A ball. Zambrano didnt K as many, 5.75 but he was 18 and didn't throw as hard as he does now. Thats a little different than Samardzija's 5.10 last season. Im not saying he cant, im just worried

[CaliforniaRaisin]

I'll just say I'm not worried about his K-rates as of now because of how raw his change and slider are. If those pitches don't improve, I'll be concerned.