Jeff Samardzija’s Increasingly Impressive Effectiveness and Other Bullets

May 12, 2014

I was told I “passed” Mother’s Day. Woo hoo. Only 364 days until the next test.

Welington Castillo suggests that, in his last outing, Jeff Samardzija’s cutter was going particularly well (Tribune), and it got me thinking about Samardzija’s pitch mix this year. If he’s throwing the cutter effectively, watch out. As Castillo notes, you pair a 91/92 mph that darts hard to the left with a 93/94 mph two-seamer that moves hard to the right? That’s a big part of how Greg Maddux worked batters on both sides of the plate (and effective against both lefties and righties), except several MPH faster. Interestingly, Samardzija’s wipeout pitch – his splitter – isn’t something he’s using nearly as much this year as he has in the past. I noticed he had some trouble throwing it for a strike (or close enough to entice hitters to swing) early in the year, and it’s possible he’s disfavoring it right now. But, like, think about that: Samardzija is performing as well as he ever has in his career without relying quite as heavily on his splitter. The more you can keep a pitch like that in your back pocket (assuming he can still throw it effectively (and the data say he still can)), the more you can use it in the most important situations.

On the Cubs’ continued struggles with runners in scoring position, Ricky Renteria tells Cubs.com: “We’ve got to do a better job understanding the situation and not getting ourselves where we’re too excited. Kind of take the emotion out of it a little bit. [Hitting coach Bill Mueller] and [assistant hitting coach Mike Brumley] actually talk to the players a lot about trying to take the emotion out of it, slow the game down, but it’s still a process and I think obviously we haven’t gotten where we need to be.” Although RISP is not a repeatable skill on the upper end (just look at the Cardinals this year – there is no such thing as “clutch,” in terms of consistently performing far better with runners in scoring position than you otherwise perform), there is something to the argument that some players may clam up a bit and perform slightly worse with RISP than you would expect. That’s why the best you can hope for is to simply perform as well as you always do (or maybe slightly better, because of a rattled pitcher and reduced defensive shifting ability). Just stay calm, stay within yourself, and focus on hitting the ball hard if it’s in your wheelhouse. Trying to do things “differently” because there’s a runner on base is almost always a mistake.

Some of you know, in addition to being a Cubs fan, I am a Michigan football fan. And, if you follow college football, you probably know that it’s been a really rough decade for UM, with a couple coaching transitions and an AD transition. You wouldn’t think it, given the extreme differences in college football and professional baseball, but the parallels in the rebuilding processes (with the bumps along the way) and the fan reactions are really striking. Check out this thread at MGoBlog about fans receiving solicitations to pick up a deal on season tickets – something that would have been unthinkable just a few years ago. Change a word here and there, and the whole thing could have been taken from the comments section on a post around here at any point in the last few months. (You mostly just have to imagine that AD Dave Brandon is playing the part of Tom Ricketts, and head coach Brady Hoke (and Rich Rodriguez before him) is playing the part of Theo Epstein.)

For those of you who care about the Message Board (but don’t frequent it enough to have noticed the two recent posts about its imminent demise), this is a heads up that, in conjunction with the previously-discussed site infrastructure changes, the Message Board will be going away this Friday, May 16. You can read about the reasons here and here, but, for anyone who still wants to be a part of a laid-back, intimate-ish Cubs message board, I would recommend Sons of Ivy.

written by

Brett Taylor

Brett Taylor is the Lead Cubs Writer at Bleacher Nation, and you can find him on Twitter at @BleacherNation and on LinkedIn here. Brett is also the founder of Bleacher Nation, which opened up shop in 2008 as an independent blog about the Chicago Cubs. Later growing to incorporate coverage of other Chicago sports, Bleacher Nation is now one of the largest regional sports blogs on the web.

more cubs news

Chicago Cubs

Justin Steele Could Be Back Sooner Than (I) Expected (UPDATE)

And here I was thinking the only silver lining about Justin Steele's Opening Day hamstring injury was the path it cleared for Javier Assad and Ben Brown to step into the rotation. Turns out there's another positive with respect to...

Michael Cerami

Apr 27, 2024

Chicago Cubs

Chicago Cubs Trading Garrett Cooper to the Boston Red Sox

The Chicago Cubs had seven days to trade, waive, or release Garrett Cooper after designating him for assignment this past week (making room for Matt Mervis). Because Cooper is a good Major League player, it's not necessarily a surprise that...

Brett Taylor

Apr 27, 2024

Chicago Cubs

Pre-Gamin’: Cubs at Red Sox (3:10 CT) – Lineups, Broadcast Info, Game Thread

CUBS LINEUP — The Chicago Cubs won the opener at Fenway last night behind a strong starting effort by Shota Imanga and a grinding offensive approach by the entire Cubs lineup. Let's see if they can do it again with...

Michael Cerami

Apr 27, 2024

Chicago Cubs

Rotation and Bullpen Finally Settling in, PCA Hitting, Maybe the Cubs Are Good? And Other Cubs Bullets

Taking my toddler son to my nephew's t-ball game today. Pretty excited about that. In case you missed the good news, Justin Steele might need just ONE rehab appearance at a Cubs minor league affiliate before returning to the big...

Michael Cerami

Apr 27, 2024

Chicago Cubs

Enhanced Box Score: Cubs 7, Red Sox 1 – April 26, 2024

Cubs win again! And it was a breezy 7-1 road victory over the Red Sox ... perfect for a relaxing Friday night. I don't think it'll be this easy forever, but the Cubs are really buying themselves some breathing room...

Michael Cerami

Apr 26, 2024

Chicago Cubs

Pre-Gamin’: Cubs at Red Sox (6:10 CT) – Lineups, Pitching Matchup, Broadcast Info, Game Thread

CUBS LINEUP — The Chicago Cubs are starting a new series tonight against the Red Sox, with Shota Imanaga going up against Boston's righty Kutter Crawford. Here's a look at the Cubs lineup for game one at Fenway. Chicago Cubs...

Michael Cerami

Apr 26, 2024

Chicago Cubs

Cubs Farm Report | April 26, 2024: South Bend Shutout the Lone Victory on Thursday

Brody McCullough, Sam Armstrong and Chase Watkins teamed up to throw a shutout for the South Bend Cubs in the only victory of the day for the system on Thursday. That and more in today's Cubs Farm Report. Cubs Farm...

Patrick K. Flowers

Apr 26, 2024

Chicago Cubs

Hayden Wesnasty Is Back and Looking Sharper Than Ever

Hayden Wenseski is not the only scoreless member of the Cubs bullpen right now. In fact, both Mark Leiter Jr. (12.1 IP, 0ER) and Keegan Thompson (7.0 IP, 0ER) technically have Wesneski beat (6.1 IP, 0ER). Heck, even Yency Almonte...

Michael Cerami

Apr 26, 2024

Chicago Cubs

Chicago Cubs Sign Righty Pitching Prospect Nico Zeglin

The Chicago Cubs keep adding to the farm system, signing 24-year-old righty Nico Zeglin out of Mexico. Formerly at Gonzaga and then Long Beach State, Zeglin was not drafted in 2023, despite ranking as the 408th best prospect in the...

Brett Taylor

Apr 26, 2024

Chicago Cubs

Javier Assad Has Kinda Been the Best Pitcher in Baseball Since June of Last Year

It's become so routine at this point that you almost accept it as a given each time he takes the ball: Javier Assad was really dang solid once again yesterday. Facing a struggling Astros team that nevertheless still has a...

Brett Taylor

Apr 26, 2024

Chicago Bears

Shoot Or Work? Jaguars Exec Tony Khan Worked NFL Draft Weekend After Taking a Piledriver on AEW Show

With the Chicago Bears done drafting, I figured I had time for a weird football story. Kayfabe, for those who don't know, is a portrayal of industry business as being real but are part of a staged part of wrestling....

Luis C. Medina

Apr 27, 2024

Picks

Colorado Rockies vs. Houston Astros Series April 27-28: Odds, Starting Pitchers & Predictions

In the first of a two-game series, on Saturday, April 27 at 6:05 PM ET, the Colorado Rockies are hosting the Houston Astros.Rockies vs. Astros Series Info Astros @ Rockies Time: Saturday, April 27 at 6:05 PM ET Rockies Starting...

Data Skrive

Apr 26, 2024

Chicago Cubs

Michael Porter Jr.'s Denver Nuggets play the Los Angeles Lakers on Saturday at 8:30 PM ET in Game 4 of the opening round of the NBA playoffs, and to beat his 3-point prop, he must make three from downtown.Michael Porter...

Data Skrive

Apr 27, 2024

Jeff Samardzija’s Increasingly Impressive Effectiveness and Other Bullets

Read More

more cubs news

Latest News

more cubs news

Most Popular

Most Popular

Latest News

Most Popular

Most Popular