The Jeff Samardzija Thread

[Guest]

If Shark's FB is 95MPH with movement, that's a hell of a pitch. The slider could become pretty good too -- that's it, solid pitcher right there.

 

I'm also struck by this because the gun @ Principal had his FB at 90. So that's a pretty bad gun. I wonder if people are partially saying Shark didn't look as good down there because of that slow gun. A couple of us were sitting there laughing at the readings because what was coming out of his hand was so inconsistent with what was being posted on the scoreboard.

 

This guy's good -- I find it likely he's *always* been good. From what I've been hearing from Cubs people in the media, there's never been any real doubt in their minds, even on the day they drafted him.

 

I choose to believe the Cubs just outscouted everyone on this guy. It happens -- the Cubs are actually quite capable of producing pitching talent.

 

The Des Moines gun is slow (so is the one in Kodak for the Smokies).

 

The Cubs weren't the only team to really like Samardzija. Many teams rated him as a first rounder despite all his flaws and inexperience. The Cubs were the one willing to gamble on him in the 5th round and got him signed and got him to quit football (that does deserve some kudos).

[erik316wttn]

Man, if Shark can keep this up, Marmol gets back to form, and Wood's "owie" heals, that's the Nasty Boys Part II right there.

[dew1679666265]

Samardzija doesn't really have a clear path to the rotation. Zambrano, Harden, Lilly, Marquis, Dempster, Hill, Marshall, and Gaudin are all possibilities for next year's rotation. In that sense, treating him like Chamberlain and letting him be a fireman until the opportunity presents itself isn't really that bad.

 

On the other hand, Samardzija is very raw, especially as a starter. There's going to be a marked difference in what Samardzija looks like as a starter in 2009 if he stays a starter now or if he stays in the MLB pen.

 

Given the big league club's predicament right now, I'd let him continue to pitch in relief as long as he's effective and used in an important role. If he's going to get shelled, or only pitch in the 6th or 7th innings of a ballgame, let him start in Iowa. If he's going to be used like he was today, then keep him around and let him start 2009 ST as a starter trying to earn a rotation spot.

 

Mind you, this is Dempster's walk year, and Lou really wants to get rid of Marquis... which helps clear out the rotation somewhat.

 

With the emphasis Lou and Hendry put on versatility too, I suspect they value Gaudin's ability to fill in both as a starter and key reliever. Marshall's future is clearly in the rotation or trade, which leaves Gaudin as the longterm swingman. That cuts him out of the rotation competition as well. And Demp will likely walk as well if Shark keeps this up.

 

The guys I think could/should fight it out next year:

 

Z

Harden

Lilly

Hill

Marshall

Samardzija

[dew1679666265]

Man, if Shark can keep this up, Marmol gets back to form, and Wood's "owie" heals, that's the Nasty Boys Part II right there.

 

I really liked what I saw from Carlos yesterday, too. Despite the loss, Marmol was challenging hitters better and showing much better control.

[BigSlick]

Someone explain the justification for the release of Eyre, who's been great and fantastic against lefties, when we still have Howry who is int eh last year of his contract?

 

Complete puzzlement

[Peoriaman]

Someone explain the justification for the release of Eyre, who's been great and fantastic against lefties, when we still have Howry who is int eh last year of his contract?

 

Complete puzzlement

 

Eyre was released? Jesus, that is a shock.

[Vanilla Ice]

Gaudin, Marshall, Samardzija, Marmol, and Wood can be a nasty back five of the bullpen. Three of them can easily go more than one inning which makes it very versatile also.

[BigSlick]

Someone explain the justification for the release of Eyre, who's been great and fantastic against lefties, when we still have Howry who is int eh last year of his contract?

 

Complete puzzlement

 

Eyre was released? Jesus, that is a shock.

I meant in the possible alternate future were it might happen

[Handlebar McSkullet]

http://www.theage.com.au/ffximage/2007/12/29/mbn_shark_wideweb__470x321,0.jpg

[dew1679666265]

Someone explain the justification for the release of Eyre, who's been great and fantastic against lefties, when we still have Howry who is int eh last year of his contract?

 

Complete puzzlement

 

Eyre was released? Jesus, that is a shock.

I meant in the possible alternate future were it might happen

 

I completely disagree with the people calling to DFA Eyre or Howry. But, if you're looking to trade either, Eyre would bring significantly more in return than Howry.

 

I would prefer to keep Eyre since I like Cotts but don't want him to be one of only two lefthanded bullpen options. Howry, on the other hand, I would look to trade if we could get something of value, but I wouldn't spend the next few days shopping him - he's declined, but I'm not certain he's done yet.

[dew1679666265]

http://www.theage.com.au/ffximage/2007/12/29/mbn_shark_wideweb__470x321,0.jpg

 

=D> Bravo my friend, bravo.

 

They should play the Jaws music when he enters a game.

[NCCubFan]

I think you'll find either a release or trade of Scott Eyre or Jon Lieber. My guess is Scotty.

How many times did he get up and down today, yet never do into pitch?? This has happened several days in a row. The silence is telling.

If you're talking about the move made when Wood returns it would have to be Eyre. Lieber is already on the DL, so releasing him now wouldn't free up a roster spot for Wood. Releasing Eyre would make room for Wood.

 

Given the market for LHP right now, I'd have to assume we'd trade Eyre rather than release him... somebody would certainly want him.

 

I still think Cotts gets sent down.

I think Cotts probably will be the odd man out since he's the one who can still be optioned. My comments that you quoted were meant specifically in the context of if it came down to Eyre or Lieber, which is what the poster I was repling to said.

[Sammy Sofa]

Wuertz or Cotts/Guzman/Shark/Guadin/Marshall/Marmol /Wood

 

It shall be.

 

Delicious.

[JonnyRed]

In addition to a much livlier arm than I expected, what excites me about The Shark is that this guy is a gamer. At ND, you wouldn't think much to just look at the guy, but he always seemed to come up with the best catch when needed. Some athletes just have "it" and I think the Jeff is one of those guys. Now, I'm not predicting stardom or anything, but I sure like the idea of having his competitiveness and live arm out of the pen down the playoff stretch and into October.

[javy knows my name]

In addition to a much livlier arm than I expected, what excites me about The Shark is that this guy is a gamer. At ND, you wouldn't think much to just look at the guy, but he always seemed to come up with the best catch when needed. Some athletes just have "it" and I think the Jeff is one of those guys. Now, I'm not predicting stardom or anything, but I sure like the idea of having his competitiveness and live arm out of the pen down the playoff stretch and into October.

Bill Plaschke approved this post

[RedFlash]

IDK if anybody could tell or not, but Shark brings a certain "moxie" with him to the mound. A swagger, if you will. I think the Cubs missed Soriano's swagger alot, as much as his baseball skills.

[TruffleShuffle]

i will just say that people have really made a lot of conclusions about a guy who has pitched four innings. he's filthy, a gamer, has moxie, great fastball with movement. billy petrick looked pretty good after a couple of innings last year too.

[TruffleShuffle]

But, I think people seriously discredited the fact that Jeff was playing 2 major sports (one of which was in the nat'l spotlight).

 

you're probably right about this. from interviews, i always got the sense that baseball was his "other" sport while football was the primary one. like he would play baseball pretty much just in the spring, then in the summer he'd go to camp with the football team and play through the fall. i think football probably requires more preparation because you have to work out a lot (and do football player workouts, which aren't like workouts for other sports), learn the playbook and get on the same page as the starting quarterback. it seemed like he played baseball because he was just a really good athlete and was good enough to do it despite not dedicating much time to it.

 

that being said, $10 million is a lot of scratch, and i don't think that it's a good allocation of resources to drop that much money on someone with so much uncertainty.

[Athletics36]

i will just say that people have really made a lot of conclusions about a guy who has pitched four innings. he's filthy, a gamer, has moxie, great fastball with movement. billy petrick looked pretty good after a couple of innings last year too.

 

Have to say that fans have already put a statue out in front of Wrigley with the stuff being said. I have to say that Kevin Hart looked really good last year and people were going to name babies after him. He did look good against the Marlins but is that a team you want to compare him to. The Marlins have no plate discipline and are free swingers and swung at some bad pitches. Lets wait a few games when he goes against a few veteran teams and they are laying off those pitches. Then you throw him in the middle of a playoff race with a team trying to win now and also lets see how he bounces back after his first rough outing. I'm not saying that he's not going to be a good pitcher but realistically how bout we wait till he's thrown a few more innings.....

[big_shooter17]

i will just say that people have really made a lot of conclusions about a guy who has pitched four innings. he's filthy, a gamer, has moxie, great fastball with movement. billy petrick looked pretty good after a couple of innings last year too.

 

Have to say that fans have already put a statue out in front of Wrigley with the stuff being said. I have to say that Kevin Hart looked really good last year and people were going to name babies after him. He did look good against the Marlins but is that a team you want to compare him to. The Marlins have no plate discipline and are free swingers and swung at some bad pitches. Lets wait a few games when he goes against a few veteran teams and they are laying off those pitches. Then you throw him in the middle of a playoff race with a team trying to win now and also lets see how he bounces back after his first rough outing. I'm not saying that he's not going to be a good pitcher but realistically how bout we wait till he's thrown a few more innings.....

 

The difference between Samardzija and Hart is that Jeff has shown better stuff in these first few innings. His pitches look like he can dominate. With Hart, he needs to hit his spots and cannot rely on what his stuff alone. I will not say that Samardzija is or will be Kerry Wood right up front, but pitchers who can throw the ball like this don't have to be on to pitch well. Kevin Hart is much more hittable. The Marlins may be free swingers, but they have a higher OBP than the Cubs and are right up there in HR overall. I don't think that you are giving enough credit to a team that is also in the middle of a pennant race. This said, I am not someone who is hailing Samardzija as the savior of the bullpen, but he certainly is capable of helping this team more than some of the other guys that we have seen this year. If he can settle in as the 7th inning guy, I'd be very happy.

[Soul]

i will just say that people have really made a lot of conclusions about a guy who has pitched four innings. he's filthy, a gamer, has moxie, great fastball with movement. billy petrick looked pretty good after a couple of innings last year too.

 

Have to say that fans have already put a statue out in front of Wrigley with the stuff being said. I have to say that Kevin Hart looked really good last year and people were going to name babies after him. He did look good against the Marlins but is that a team you want to compare him to. The Marlins have no plate discipline and are free swingers and swung at some bad pitches. Lets wait a few games when he goes against a few veteran teams and they are laying off those pitches. Then you throw him in the middle of a playoff race with a team trying to win now and also lets see how he bounces back after his first rough outing. I'm not saying that he's not going to be a good pitcher but realistically how bout we wait till he's thrown a few more innings.....

 

The difference between Samardzija and Hart is that Jeff has shown better stuff in these first few innings. His pitches look like he can dominate. With Hart, he needs to hit his spots and cannot rely on what his stuff alone. I will not say that Samardzija is or will be Kerry Wood right up front, but pitchers who can throw the ball like this don't have to be on to pitch well. Kevin Hart is much more hittable. The Marlins may be free swingers, but they have a higher OBP than the Cubs and are right up there in HR overall. I don't think that you are giving enough credit to a team that is also in the middle of a pennant race. This said, I am not someone who is hailing Samardzija as the savior of the bullpen, but he certainly is capable of helping this team more than some of the other guys that we have seen this year. If he can settle in as the 7th inning guy, I'd be very happy.

 

Yeah, the Marlins are a pretty respectable offensive team. I don't agree with trying to minimize Shark's results because it was "only" against the Marlins. They're definitely in the playoff race, a pretty solid ballclub. And they've been coming from behind in the late innings too -- except they couldn't against Jeff.

 

Obviously this is only a first taste of Shark, so nobody knows what will happen once teams develop a good scouting report on him and hitters have had a chance to see him. The early returns are good though. We'll just have to see.

[fromthestretch]

The Marlins may be free swingers, but they have a higher OBP than the Cubs

 

???

 

Cubs team OBP: .355

Marlins team OBP: .319

[big_shooter17]

The Marlins may be free swingers, but they have a higher OBP than the Cubs

 

???

 

Cubs team OBP: .355

Marlins team OBP: .319

 

My mistake, looked at the wrong stat there.

[Transmogrified Tiger]

Florida is 6th in the NL in runs. It's not the best offense in the league, but they have several very good hitters, it's not as if they're the Padres or whatever AAA affiliate they're calling the Padres these days.

[Peoriaman]

It is what it is--4 good innings against a good hitting club. Keven Hart never had this good of stuff. That said, he hasn't pitched enough yet to even try to predict his future, but early returns are very good which is better than the alternative.