Jeff makes the most of it
Sveum lauds righty for learning to pitch without his best stuff
When Cubs manager Dale Sveum was asked what Jeff Samardzija must do to take the next step in his maturation, he pointed to the righthander’s start Friday.
“He didn’t get flustered with anything early,” Sveum said. “He was able to settle down and use his four-seamer and his two-seamer to get quicker outs. He’s grown a lot, especially in the last four, five, six starts. You’re starting to see a guy that is learning what to do in situations, how to get quicker outs, not power guys away, get deeper into games and understand how to pitch when you don’t have your split and get back in counts [without throwing] a four-seamer right down the middle.”
Samardzija’s 25th start was far from a gem, and that made it all the more impressive. He struggled with the strike zone early, coughed up a run in each of the first three innings and watched his pitch count soar.
He settled down after that, retiring eight in a row during one stretch to help the Cubs rally for a 5-3 victory at Wrigley Field that snapped the Rockies’ five-game winning streak.
“If you look at all my starts this season, that’s probably one of the more proud starts I can say I had,” said Samardzija, who allowed six hits and two earned runs in seven innings in a no-decision. “There have been times I’ve had good stuff and it has gone smoothly. To come out early and scuffle and really not have fastball command or a slider the whole game and to get through those seven innings felt really good. I felt like a starting pitcher, understanding what’s there and what’s not there and working with what you had.”
Last year was Samardzija’s first full season in the big leagues. This is his first season as a starter. With a strong finish, he could set himself up to take the next step in his development, which means logging 200 innings and pushing his victory total into double digits.
That’s no easy task considering the Cubs are undergoing the type of heavy construction that typically requires hard hats and zoning permits. The offense scored two runs or fewer in seven of his last eight starts before Friday, when Alfonso Soriano and Brett Jackson homered, Joe Mather delivered a clutch single and the Rockies made two costly errors in the eighth. But such improvement remains the best-case scenario for a former first-round draft pick who entered spring training without a guaranteed spot in the rotation, only to become the team’s de facto ace down the stretch.
“He’s got the durability, he’s got the power, he’s got the split,” Sveum said when asked if Samardzija could develop into a No. 1 starter. “Right now, it’s more of the learning process. His mentality, he wants to be a No. 1, and he has the stuff to be able to do it. Now it’s the pitch efficiency to be able to go seven innings, 115, 120 pitches when need be. Obviously, that’s down the road a little bit. [But] he’s got all the makings to do it.”
Fatigue shouldn’t be a factor. The Cubs periodically test their pitchers’ shoulders, and Sveum said Samardzija’s right shoulder is stronger now than it was in spring training. That’s more impressive considering he has a chance to double the career-high 88 innings he pitched last year.
“It has always been in the back of my mind,” Samardzija said of being a top- of-the-rotation starter. “Obviously, I’ve got a long ways to go. When you go out and do things like that, when you can have a successful day when you don’t have everything, that means a lot. It gives you that extra confidence when you do have your stuff to pitch deep into the game and get out of innings.”