The Jeff Samardzija Thread

[jersey cubs fan]

Do the Cubs have a floating pitching coach that goes throughout the system? I don't know if I'd blame Fleita for this problem.

 

Well, just like Hendry is in charge of the major league team, Fleita is in charge of player development. It may be that he's hired the wrong men to actually coach, but he's in charge, so blame for anything related to development has to flow up to him.

[NCCubFan]

Do the Cubs have a floating pitching coach that goes throughout the system? I don't know if I'd blame Fleita for this problem.

Alan Dunn was minor league pitching coordinator (much like Dave Keller is minor league hitting coordinator). However, he was recently hired by another team as bullpen coach at the major league level (I believe by the Orioles, but I'm not positive). I'm not sure if he's been replaced in the Cubs' system yet or if it was close enough to the end of the minor league season that they're waiting until the offseason.

[Guest]

Do the Cubs have a floating pitching coach that goes throughout the system? I don't know if I'd blame Fleita for this problem.

Alan Dunn was minor league pitching coordinator (much like Dave Keller is minor league hitting coordinator). However, he was recently hired by another team as bullpen coach at the major league level (I believe by the Orioles, but I'm not positive). I'm not sure if he's been replaced in the Cubs' system yet or if it was close enough to the end of the minor league season that they're waiting until the offseason.

 

You're right, it's the Orioles and Dunn hasn't been replaced yet.

[Guest]

Fluff piece: http://www.knoxnews.com/news/2007/sep/06/baseball-is-samardzijas-first-love/

 

"I debated for a very long time, probably during every class I took my senior year after coming back from Boise (where he pitched briefly in 2006)," he said.

 

The Cubs believe he made the correct choice and so does he.

 

Samardzija pitched at Notre Dame and considered becoming a two-sport athlete in the pros like Deion Sanders, who played football and baseball at Florida State before juggling a major league baseball and NFL career.

 

"That was my original plan for a couple of years," he said. "Really, I told every major league scout and GM that was what I wanted to do going into my senior year of football.

 

"He realized that isn't realistic with the year-round demands placed on athletes in each sport.

 

"The logistics of it wouldn't have shaped up," he said. "It would have been high risk to pursue something (football) that could have ended my career in both sports."

 

Samardzija is looking forward to the offseason. He will skip instructional ball as well as the Arizona Fall League.

 

"I've never had more than four (consecutive) days off in my athletic career," he said.

[CuseCubFan69]

Do the Cubs have a floating pitching coach that goes throughout the system? I don't know if I'd blame Fleita for this problem.

 

Well, just like Hendry is in charge of the major league team, Fleita is in charge of player development. It may be that he's hired the wrong men to actually coach, but he's in charge, so blame for anything related to development has to flow up to him.

 

I wonder what he's having them do that is different from other teams?

[CuseCubFan69]

Do the Cubs have a floating pitching coach that goes throughout the system? I don't know if I'd blame Fleita for this problem.

Alan Dunn was minor league pitching coordinator (much like Dave Keller is minor league hitting coordinator). However, he was recently hired by another team as bullpen coach at the major league level (I believe by the Orioles, but I'm not positive). I'm not sure if he's been replaced in the Cubs' system yet or if it was close enough to the end of the minor league season that they're waiting until the offseason.

 

Thanks NCCF. With pitchers being such a valuable resource I don't understand why they don't have someone over seeing them and doing things the right way as an organization.

[vance_the_cubs_fan]

Found this little blurb about Smardzija on John Sickels' blog...

 

Smardzija's 2007 was one of the weirder minor league seasons I can remember. His numbers for Class A Daytona were pretty terrible: 4.95 ERA, 3-8, 45/35 K/BB in 107 innings, 142 hits allowed. Scouts were puzzling over how someone with such good "stuff" could be so hittable and have a strikeout rate so low.

 

His promotion to Double-A in August was a real Whiskey Tango Foxtrot moment. I thought for sure he'd be horrible in Double-A, given how weak his components were at Daytona. But lo and behold, he went 3-3, 3.41 in six starts for Tennessee, with much better components at 20/9 K/BB, 33 hits in 34 innings.

 

So what is going on here? There is the usual yadda yadda going around about Samardzija improving his breaking stuff, refining his command, learning how to pitch instead of just throw, etc. Honestly, at this point it is hard to disentagle the truth from the propaganda. I didn't get to see him myself. Cubs officials say lots of good things, but you'd expect them to do so. For me, this is is a real "need more information" case. I really don't know what to think here. Grade-wise, I would be inclined to drop him to C+, but I will need to make more phone calls and gather more information before making that official in the 2008 book.

 

Link.

[Guest]

http://chicagosports.chicagotribune.com/sports/columnists/cs-080116mitchelljeffsamardzija,1,7422133.column?coll=cs-cubs-headlines

 

Samardzija has added a split-finger pitch to his repertoire.

 

"I didn't really throw a splitter last year, which I do have," he said. "My changeup is coming along. It's nice to have this extra two or three months to work on your changeup and slider."

[CubinNY]

http://chicagosports.chicagotribune.com/sports/columnists/cs-080116mitchelljeffsamardzija,1,7422133.column?coll=cs-cubs-headlines

 

Samardzija has added a split-finger pitch to his repertoire.

 

"I didn't really throw a splitter last year, which I do have," he said. "My changeup is coming along. It's nice to have this extra two or three months to work on your changeup and slider."

If he can develop a decent splitter he may be able to miss some bats.

 

Here's to hoping it happens.

[rawaction]

http://chicagosports.chicagotribune.com/sports/columnists/cs-080116mitchelljeffsamardzija,1,7422133.column?coll=cs-cubs-headlines

 

Samardzija has added a split-finger pitch to his repertoire.

 

"I didn't really throw a splitter last year, which I do have," he said. "My changeup is coming along. It's nice to have this extra two or three months to work on your changeup and slider."

If he can develop a decent splitter he may be able to miss some bats.

 

Here's to hoping it happens.

 

And get some more groundballs.

[jersey cubs fan]

http://chicagosports.chicagotribune.com/sports/columnists/cs-080116mitchelljeffsamardzija,1,7422133.column?coll=cs-cubs-headlines

 

Samardzija has added a split-finger pitch to his repertoire.

 

"I didn't really throw a splitter last year, which I do have," he said. "My changeup is coming along. It's nice to have this extra two or three months to work on your changeup and slider."

If he can develop a decent splitter he may be able to miss some bats.

 

Here's to hoping it happens.

 

And get some more groundballs.

 

Yeah, I'd guess he'll never miss a significant amount of at bats. It's all about whether he can turn into an extreme groundball pitcher or not.