Re: Jeff Samardzija is (or was) pretty awesome

[Guest]

he was basically a #2 this year already

[SABR Gamer]

He looked really good last night. Hitting 97-98, locating, just some nasty stuff.

 

Yeah, shame it was his last start of the year though.

 

All in all, he struck out more than a batter an inning and (more importantly) got the walks down to just a bit better than league average.

 

He's looking like a potential #2 for next year. Maybe better, if you discount the poor month he had this year while trying to learn to throw a curve.

 

Take out June (his curve month) and he was at a 2.795 ERA for the year.

[Guest]

His performance this year puts him in the top 25 of all starting pitchers. Whatever label or number you want to put on it, it's really good, and a valuable part of a rotation.

[SABR Gamer]

His performance this year puts him in the top 25 of all starting pitchers. Whatever label or number you want to put on it, it's really good, and a valuable part of a rotation.

 

 

He could be an ace next year, legitimately.

[J.R.]

Samardzija's ascension comes as a very pleasant surprise to me. Shocking, actually - I had completely written him off.

[Little Slide Rooter]

His performance this year puts him in the top 25 of all starting pitchers. Whatever label or number you want to put on it, it's really good, and a valuable part of a rotation.

 

 

He could be an ace next year, legitimately.

 

healthy Garza, Samardzjia, Sanchez/Jackson/Marcum/Shields/McCarthy(if he recovers), Wood, Volstad/Raley/Struck/lesser FA/trade acquisition, could be a very strong rotation. Even stronger if a healthy, productive Vizcaino can slot in there in the next year or two.

[davell]

I still can't see Volstad being here next year, even as a reliever. As far as Shark goes, I have no clue what he winds up as, but a true 1 has to be considered at least, as a possibility. Easily the best thing to happen for the Cubs in 2012.

[SouthSideRyan]

Since everyone freaked out and he was said to have no margin for error, and a straight fastball, etc. Samardzija put up:

 

87.1 IP

95 Ks

22 BBs

11 HRs

2.58 ERA

[jersey cubs fan]

Since everyone freaked out

 

I'm curious but when was this?

[El Duderino]

Since everyone freaked out

 

I'm curious but when was this?

 

Everyone probably means Kyle.

[jersey cubs fan]

Since everyone freaked out

 

I'm curious but when was this?

 

Everyone probably means Kyle.

 

I remember cubinny ranting about Shark sometime this summer (probably many times), but I dont' remember everybody freaking out. It's been a long boring horrible summer of baseball though so I've probably blocked lots of stuff from my memory.

[Hairyducked Idiot]

I could be wrong and am certainly too lazy to look back over the three pages it would take to confirm, but I think CubinNY was advancing the "no margin for error because of his straight fastball" theory, and I was simply skeptical about his stamina as a starter.

[sneakypower]

Since everyone freaked out and he was said to have no margin for error, and a straight fastball, etc. Samardzija put up:

 

87.1 IP

95 Ks

22 BBs

11 HRs

2.58 ERA

...everyone?

 

i do remember there being one true visionary on here who led us all down the path of reason

 

unless you have any reason to believe his .405 babip or his 60% LOB are likely to persist, this isn't really much of a concern

 

also, on the year he has a FIP within 5 pts of Hamels, Kershaw, Dempster, Peavy, Halladay, Johan Santana, CJ Wilson...he's fine

[sneakypower]

i do have a faint recollection of one poor unfortunate soul who did not follow our fearless leader down the path of logic, but rather descended into a pit of wretched despair

 

It looks to me that he just doesn't have the stamina to be a starter right now, either in terms of a single game or the course of a season. I don't know if he's going to get better in future seasons

[Hairyducked Idiot]

i do have a faint recollection of one poor unfortunate soul who did not follow our fearless leader down the path of logic, but rather descended into a pit of wretched despair

 

It looks to me that he just doesn't have the stamina to be a starter right now, either in terms of a single game or the course of a season. I don't know if he's going to get better in future seasons

 

I'm waiting until the end of the season to do the "I was right about.../I was wrong about..." thread. Samardzija definitely goes into the "was wrong about."

[davell]

If we go back to the very beginning of when we heard he was getting a shot at the rotation, I find it hard to imagine anyone thought he'd have had the season he did.

[Hairyducked Idiot]

If we go back to the very beginning of when we heard he was getting a shot at the rotation, I find it hard to imagine anyone thought he'd have had the season he did.

 

I can't believe those idiots gifted him a rotation spot and kept Travis Wood in Iowa. Idiots.

[Cubswin11]

If we go back to the very beginning of when we heard he was getting a shot at the rotation, I find it hard to imagine anyone thought he'd have had the season he did.

 

I can't believe those idiots gifted him a rotation spot and kept Travis Wood in Iowa. Idiots.

That argument wasn't actually being made, was it? I know people were debating which two, to keep up between the4 of Volstad/Maholm/Wells/Wood but I don't remember anyone of those guys should get a spot over Samardzija

[davell]

What do you think of Wood at this point? I know you were high on him bigtime, but it seems like you soured quite a bit. I think he's a serviceable 5 on a good team going forward, but probably not much upside from that.

[Hairyducked Idiot]

If we go back to the very beginning of when we heard he was getting a shot at the rotation, I find it hard to imagine anyone thought he'd have had the season he did.

 

I can't believe those idiots gifted him a rotation spot and kept Travis Wood in Iowa. Idiots.

That argument wasn't actually being made, was it? I know people were debating which two, to keep up between the4 of Volstad/Maholm/Wells/Wood but I don't remember anyone of those guys should get a spot over Samardzija

 

I wanted Wood over just about everyone. It wasn't going to come down to Wood or Samardzija, but if it did, I wanted Wood. Not the least of which because moving Samardzija to the rotation put a huge hole in our bullpen.

 

What Epstein said about the draft is true for all baseball analysis: Everyone is wrong a lot. You just try to be a little less wrong.

[Hairyducked Idiot]

What do you think of Wood at this point? I know you were high on him bigtime, but it seems like you soured quite a bit. I think he's a serviceable 5 on a good team going forward, but probably not much upside from that.

 

He clearly belongs in the rotation, and he's clearly not as good as I thought going into the season.

 

I wouldn't mind seeing him dealt to a team with a better ballpark fit. Wrigley with the wind blowing out is worse than kryptonite for him. A team like the Padres or Mariners would probably get a lot more value out of him than we will.

[davell]

While I agree with that sentiment, I doubt he's increased his value much honestly. So I think I'd probably just go ahead and pencil him into our rotation for a few years, unless we surprise everyone with a few name additions.

[Little Slide Rooter]

I still can't see Volstad being here next year, even as a reliever

 

He's making 2.66MM this season, and I can't see him making much more via arb next season. A very low risk for a guy who could still potentially be an above average back end starter. If nothing else, he has 2 more arb eligible seasons left, and a strong start to 2014 could give him some degree of trade value.

[sneakypower]

He looked really good last night. Hitting 97-98, locating, just some nasty stuff.

 

Yeah, shame it was his last start of the year though.

 

All in all, he struck out more than a batter an inning and (more importantly) got the walks down to just a bit better than league average.

 

He's looking like a potential #2 for next year. Maybe better, if you discount the poor month he had this year while trying to learn to throw a curve.

 

Take out June (his curve month) and he was at a 2.795 ERA for the year.

fun facts!

-take out his June and he had a 3.05 xFIP! (league-leading xFIP was Cliff Lee, with 3.06)

-in his non-June starts, he also totaled 3.4 fWAR in 23 starts- full season pace: 5 WAR, which would have placed him 8th in baseball, just one run shy of Zach Greinke and David Price

-his (4th-best in MLB) K/9 this year was better than: Justin Verlander, Clayton Kershaw, Felix Hernandez, Cole Hamels

-he's just 27!

-he still has 3 years of team control

 

while i'm not guaranteeing he'll establish himself as a bona fide ace, the possibility of that happening seems real enough that i'm really unwilling to trade him unless it's an offer so absurd it would give Dayton Moore pause

[davell]

Exactly where I'm at with Shark too.