Home runs still plague Samardzija
Veteran allows two long balls during spring training start that yields mixed results
MESA, ARIZ. >> Jeff Samardzija cruised through three of his best innings of the spring Wednesday.
Then, it happened again. The problem that’s plagued Samardzija all spring reappeared in the fourth inning of a start against the Cubs’ TripleA affiliate in Mesa.
The first hitter of the inning crushed a double high off the batter’s eye in center field. The next batter slugged a 1-1 pitch over the right center field wall. The third prospect to come to the plate smoked a first-pitch changeup over the left-field fence.
It wasn’t exactly what Samardzija envisioned, considering the Giants’ No. 3 starter has struggled with surrendering the long ball all spring a season after giving up a careerhigh 30 home runs.
“Young guys like this are usually coming out here hacking and trying to prove themselves,” Samardzija said. “We went out and just mixed everything in.”
If the batter’s eye in center field didn’t keep the leadoff double in the park, Wednesday’s outing would have marked
the third straight start in which Samardzija has allowed three home runs in the same inning.
In 3 1/3 innings of work, Samardzija threw 73 pitches (46 strikes) and allowed seven hits, three earned runs and a hit by pitch but also struck out six players including three in the first.
Unlike Giants’ ace Madison Bumgarner who used his penultimate start of the spring to record as many outs as possible, Samardzija was still tinkering and testing off-speed offerings to ensure he has the type of command he’s looking for heading into the regular season.
Neither Bijan Rademacher or P.J. Higgins have demonstrated tremendous power in the Cubs’ Minor League system, so their home runs off the Giants’ righty on Wednesday will serve as nice memories. Samardzija didn’t sound like
he’ll think about the runs he gave up for long, and instead focused on the swingthroughs he induced in the first three frames.
“The stuff is moving,” Samardzija said. “Getting swings and misses like that is always good. It’s the same thing we’re always talking about, guys are out there hunting heaters so if I can come out early in a game and have my offspeed pitches where they need to be and come back to the heater later on we’re probably going to have a good day.”
The Giants don’t appear to be overly concerned with Samardzija’s rough spring, and he’s certainly not ready to press the panic button. While some pitchers play coy about the adjustments they’re attempting to make, Samardzija is upfront about his desire to add a secondary, slower changeup to his repertoire.
It’s the changeup that’s created trouble for Samardzija at times this spring, but he believes it’s imperative to throw more
off-speed pitches early in games to prevent hitters from locking in on fastballs.
If Samardzija or No. 2 starter Johnny Cueto struggle early in the season, a Giants’ rotation that doesn’t possess much depth could become a serious issue for a franchise that expressed confidence in its pitching staff following a 98-loss season. In lieu of upgrading the rotation, general manager Bobby Evans and vice president of baseball operations Brian Sabean pursued additions to address other needs with the hope that both Samardzija and Cueto would return to form following challenging seasons.
Samardzija skipped the Giants’ evening contest at Salt River Field against the Diamondbacks so that he wouldn’t face a National League West opponent in back-to-back spring starts. However, that doesn’t mean the Giants’ righty didn’t experience a bit of déjà vu against the Cubs’ Triple-A affiliate.
Over a three-year stretch from 2008-2010, Samardzija made 59 starts for the Iowa Cubs, recording a 4.17 ERA for a club based out of Des Moines. When asked if Wednesday’s start made him feel nostalgic, Samardzija didn’t take the bait.
“I’m not mad about that,” Samardzija said. “We’re fine here. I saw the ‘I’ on the helmets and I was like, ‘That’s a little weird.”
• Samardzija may have stayed back to avoid the D’Backs, but all of the Giants’ regular starters played against Arizona at Salt River Field Wednesday.
With right-handed pitcher Matt Koch on the mound for the D’Backs, manager Bruce Bochy stacked the top of the order with two lefties, Joe Panik and Brandon Belt, which is an approach the Giants will likely take into the regular season.
The Giants’ lineup started the game on a tear, as Panik and Andrew McCutchen both homered in the first inning while Buster Posey smoked an opposite field double to make it 4-0. The Giants ended up winning 14-0.