Samardzija shut down date: Saturday

[2SeamHeat]

I know Shark has had a good season as a starter this year, but I came into this season expecting him to have way too many walks and a lot of blowups. He's been prone to walks and bombs ever since being drafted. We've seen him reduce these to pretty good levels overall this year. However, I still suspect he'll end up returning to those trends. If he does, he's not SP material at all. I find his sudden reclaimed control baffling. I hope that's due to the tutelage of Bosio... and not just a fluke. If he can continue to improve in these areas, he could turn into a very solid #2 guy.

 

[2SeamHeat]

For the record I'd be more than okay if Samardzija were the #4 starter based on his performance this season, as it would indicate that we have three better starters by default in the rotation

Oh, same here... as long as he keeps improving from this year.

 

[Rice Cube]

I know Shark has had a good season as a starter this year, but I came into this season expecting him to have way too many walks and a lot of blowups. He's been prone to walks and bombs ever since being drafted. We've seen him reduce these to pretty good levels overall this year. However, I still suspect he'll end up returning to those trends. If he does, he's not SP material at all. I find his sudden reclaimed control baffling. I hope that's due to the tutelage of Bosio... and not just a fluke. If he can continue to improve in these areas, he could turn into a very solid #2 guy.

Yeah, I hope they don't offer him an extension and instead just give him a slight bump in arbitration to something like $3.5MM (probably less). I'm not actually sure what his first arb projected salary would be as his previous contract plus the one Theo gave him kind of threw off the standard calculations. But he did say he worked pretty much throughout the winter to improve his game and the hard work seems to have paid off. I think a lot of his stats will normalize but I don't think it's a complete fluke.

 

[Rice Cube]

Jeff Samardzija Experiment: QaPla!

http://worldseriesdreaming.com/2012/09/08/the-great-jeff-samardzija-experiment-phase-one-complete/

 

[Rice Cube]

Final start:

http://chicago.cubs.mlb.com/video/play.jsp?content_id=24610853&c_id=mlb

 

[dabynsky]

Jeff Samardzija Experiment: QaPla!

http://worldseriesdreaming.com/2012/09/08/the-great-jeff-samardzija-experiment-phase-one-complete/

I like how I was the first one to write about the splitter amonst the articles listed.

 

[Rice Cube]

I like how I was the first one to write about the splitter amonst the articles listed.

SMART!

 

[Rice Cube]

Postgame quotes and shit:

http://espn.go.com/blog/chicago/cubs/post/_/id/13409/samardzija-proves-himself-as-a-starter

 

[ChicagoDawg1991]

great game by Jeff tonight!

 

[Uman85]

Been a big fan of Samardzija since his days at Notre Dame. Glad to see him finish the year on a strong note. Hope he improves again next year and solidifies himself as one of the most reliable and consistent in the game.

 

[Rice Cube]

HBT on Jeff:

http://hardballtalk.nbcsports.com/2012/09/09/jeff-samardzija-ends-his-season-on-a-high-note/

I also updated the WSD blog with Jeff's full-season starts now that he's shut down pitching-wise.