Is Smardzja pitching himself out of the playoffs?

[Backtobanks]

Knowing Piniella's lack of patience when it comes to walks, Smardzja could be in trouble. He's falling behind every batter and they're sitting on his fastball.

[PrimeTime]

Didn't he have a 4 ERA in double A? I think hitters are finally figuring him out.

[Cynosure]

Samardzija.

 

Could always check the internet if you don't know how to spell it.

[BigSlick]

Didn't he have a 4 ERA in double A? I think hitters are finally figuring him out.

He's just going through his own struggles but he was due for coming back to earth a little bit.

 

I'm completely confident in his ability to be a good reliever in this league but it seems he's lost his control a bit. I really don't feel like opposing hitters have figured him out, he's just beating himself.

[Mizzou]

If he's off the roster, who takes his place? Hart? Guzman? No thanks on both of those guys. I think he's still on it, barring a complete meltdown this last week. I don't think he'll pitch much, being behind Wood, Marmol, Gaudin, and possibly Marquis on the RH depth chart, but I think he'll be there.

[bukie]

He's struggling to throw strikes, mostly. His pitches have great movement, he just needs to be able to command it better.

[JimSorgi]

Samardzija.

 

Could always check the internet if you don't know how to spell it.

Does it really matter?

[Brett]

If he's off the roster, who takes his place? Hart? Guzman? No thanks on both of those guys. I think he's still on it, barring a complete meltdown this last week. I don't think he'll pitch much, being behind Wood, Marmol, Gaudin, and possibly Marquis on the RH depth chart, but I think he'll be there.

 

And that's ultimately where we're at. Hard to imagine anyone that's eligible to replace him actually replacing him. If he keeps sucking, he'll just be held back from remotely important situations.

 

Which is terrifying, because then there's the ever-looming spectre of Bobby Howry...

[Backtobanks]

If he's off the roster, who takes his place? Hart? Guzman? No thanks on both of those guys. I think he's still on it, barring a complete meltdown this last week. I don't think he'll pitch much, being behind Wood, Marmol, Gaudin, and possibly Marquis on the RH depth chart, but I think he'll be there.

 

And that's ultimately where we're at. Hard to imagine anyone that's eligible to replace him actually replacing him. If he keeps sucking, he'll just be held back from remotely important situations.

 

Which is terrifying, because then there's the ever-looming spectre of Bobby Howry...

 

Howry does have that "experience" factor going for him. I think Samardzija had better start showing something in these last 10 games or he could be left off of the playoff roster. Walks and falling behind in the count are something Lou doesn't tolerate.

[UMFan83]

The playoff bullpen will be

 

Wood

Marmol

Cotts

Marshall

Gaudin

Marquis/Wuertz/Samardjiza

[javy knows my name]

Samardzija.

 

Could always check the internet if you don't know how to spell it.

There aren't that many vowels in there to begin with; don't take more out!

[gflore34]

Didn't he have a 4 ERA in double A? I think hitters are finally figuring him out.

He's just going through his own struggles but he was due for coming back to earth a little bit.

 

I'm completely confident in his ability to be a good reliever in this league but it seems he's lost his control a bit. I really don't feel like opposing hitters have figured him out, he's just beating himself.

 

I agree, he's got pretty good stuff, no doubt, once he becomes more consistent with his control, he'll be very effective.

[SouthSideRyan]

The playoff bullpen will be

 

Wood

Marmol

Cotts

Marshall

Gaudin

Marquis/Wuertz/Samardjiza

 

Again, I'd be stunned if Lou goes with 10 pitchers.

[jersey cubs fan]

I didn't see them, but weren't the four hits he gave up grounds balls and somewhat of a blooper? Part of that is just chance. It sucks when a pitcher gives up a hit, but the grounders are essentially exactly what you expect out of him. I do think he's on the verge of not making the team.

[UMFan83]

The playoff bullpen will be

 

Wood

Marmol

Cotts

Marshall

Gaudin

Marquis/Wuertz/Samardjiza

 

Again, I'd be stunned if Lou goes with 10 pitchers.

 

Do you mean that 10 pitchers is too much or too little? He went with 11 last year.

[bukie]

The playoff bullpen will be

 

Wood

Marmol

Cotts

Marshall

Gaudin

Marquis/Wuertz/Samardjiza

 

Again, I'd be stunned if Lou goes with 10 pitchers.

 

Do you mean that 10 pitchers is too much or too little? He went with 11 last year.

 

Too little. I don't see any way Lou doesn't go with 11 pitchers, especially if he takes Marquis.

[UMFan83]

The playoff bullpen will be

 

Wood

Marmol

Cotts

Marshall

Gaudin

Marquis/Wuertz/Samardjiza

 

Again, I'd be stunned if Lou goes with 10 pitchers.

 

Do you mean that 10 pitchers is too much or too little? He went with 11 last year.

 

Too little. I don't see any way Lou doesn't go with 11 pitchers, especially if he takes Marquis.

 

It makes sense as long as there is 11 viable pitchers. I don't think there's 15 viable position players.

[bukie]

The playoff bullpen will be

 

Wood

Marmol

Cotts

Marshall

Gaudin

Marquis/Wuertz/Samardjiza

 

Again, I'd be stunned if Lou goes with 10 pitchers.

 

Do you mean that 10 pitchers is too much or too little? He went with 11 last year.

 

Too little. I don't see any way Lou doesn't go with 11 pitchers, especially if he takes Marquis.

 

It makes sense as long as there is 11 viable pitchers. I don't think there's 15 viable position players.

 

"Lock" position players (as in, not a doubt they are there) (12): Soto, Blanco, Lee, DeRosa, Fontenot, Ramirez, Theriot, Cedeno, Soriano, Edmonds, Johnson, Fukudome

Other viable position players (4): Ward, Pie, Hoffpauir, Hill

 

"Lock" pitchers (9): Zambrano, Dempster, Harden, Lilly, Wood, Marmol, Howry, Marshall, Cotts

Other viable pitchers (4): Marquis, Samardzija, Gaudin, Guzman

 

So, the way I see it, there are a total of 29 potentials for 25 spots, 21 of which are basically locked up.

[UMFan83]

I don't see Hill or Hoffpauir having much of a use in the playoffs. Can you see Lou going to Hoff in any situation in October with his veteran Ward, and possibly Jim Edmonds or Fontenot on the bench? If you can't, then he's not a viable position player to utilize a playoff spot.

 

Oh, and I don't care how badly Ward has played, he's a lock.

[bukie]

I don't see Hill or Hoffpauir having much of a use in the playoffs. Can you see Lou going to Hoff in any situation in October with his veteran Ward, and possibly Jim Edmonds or Fontenot on the bench? If you can't, then he's not a viable position player to utilize a playoff spot.

 

Oh, and I don't care how badly Ward has played, he's a lock.

 

I see Hill having more use than Hoffpauir in the playoffs, especially if Blanco is somehow the only RH on the bench for pinch hitting duties.

 

Hoffpauir would only have a place if Ward is injured, essentially.

[CubinNY]

I don't see Hill or Hoffpauir having much of a use in the playoffs. Can you see Lou going to Hoff in any situation in October with his veteran Ward, and possibly Jim Edmonds or Fontenot on the bench? If you can't, then he's not a viable position player to utilize a playoff spot.

 

Oh, and I don't care how badly Ward has played, he's a lock.

 

I see Hill having more use than Hoffpauir in the playoffs, especially if Blanco is somehow the only RH on the bench for pinch hitting duties.

 

Hoffpauir would only have a place if Ward is injured, essentially.

I don't think Hill will be on the roster. The Cubs love him so they brought him up for September. He won't be on any playoff roster.

 

Edit: Samardzija is a ground ball pitcher. He gets grounders when he's going well. He's not a strikeout pitcher. Start to worry when he gives up home runs.

[Sammy Sofa]

I didn't see them, but weren't the four hits he gave up grounds balls and somewhat of a blooper? Part of that is just chance. It sucks when a pitcher gives up a hit, but the grounders are essentially exactly what you expect out of him. I do think he's on the verge of not making the team.

 

Basically. And he arguably got the job done by getting the batter to hit into a perfect DP ball that would have ended the inning that DeRosa completely screwed up.

[jersey cubs fan]

I didn't see them, but weren't the four hits he gave up grounds balls and somewhat of a blooper? Part of that is just chance. It sucks when a pitcher gives up a hit, but the grounders are essentially exactly what you expect out of him. I do think he's on the verge of not making the team.

 

Basically. And he arguably got the job done by getting the batter to hit into a perfect DP ball that would have ended the inning that DeRosa completely screwed up.

 

I think the trib article described his outing as an implosion. I just don't get that.

[Backtobanks]

I didn't see them, but weren't the four hits he gave up grounds balls and somewhat of a blooper? Part of that is just chance. It sucks when a pitcher gives up a hit, but the grounders are essentially exactly what you expect out of him. I do think he's on the verge of not making the team.

 

Basically. And he arguably got the job done by getting the batter to hit into a perfect DP ball that would have ended the inning that DeRosa completely screwed up.

 

As Kasper and Brenley have pointed out, he needs to work on his secondary pitches. The reason I think he is in trouble is that he can't throw strikes until he's in a hitter's count and then the batter knows a fastball is coming. Lou is very intolerant of pitchers who walk people and fall behind on every batter.

[Sammy Sofa]

I didn't see them, but weren't the four hits he gave up grounds balls and somewhat of a blooper? Part of that is just chance. It sucks when a pitcher gives up a hit, but the grounders are essentially exactly what you expect out of him. I do think he's on the verge of not making the team.

 

Basically. And he arguably got the job done by getting the batter to hit into a perfect DP ball that would have ended the inning that DeRosa completely screwed up.

 

As Kasper and Brenley have pointed out, he needs to work on his secondary pitches. The reason I think he is in trouble is that he can't throw strikes until he's in a hitter's count and then the batter knows a fastball is coming. Lou is very intolerant of pitchers who walk people and fall behind on every batter.

 

Which he actually wasn't doing yesterday. He wasn't throwing 1st-pitch strikes, but he was then consistently getting to 1-2 counts or 2-2 counts.