Spellcheck is starting to scare me

Spellcheck....AKA Jeff Samardzija...has made two appearances so far this spring in a long shot stab at making the starting rotation...and he's been pretty damn good.

He's been so good, in fact, that he's starting to scare me into thinking that he might actually make the rotation now.  

He did give up two runs in the first inning of his appearance yesterday, but he settled down and pitched dominantly in the final two innings.  He has pitched 6 innings giving up only 3 hits and striking out 6 batters.  

But those stats aren't what have impressed me the most.  He has yet to walk a batter.  His control has been pretty darn good, with the exception of one hit batter (which the Cubs are doing with high frequency), and that is the really what Samardzija had been missing in his very good season last year.  

It's no secret that I've been critical of the Samardzija contract for a long time now, but he proved to be a pretty effective reliever last year, and that is a role I'd like to see him continue in.  

The thing is, if he keeps up this sort of performance, the Cubs may have no choice but to put him into the rotation.  He could be successful, but with the large number of other bottom of the rotation starters in camp right now, I think I'd prefer to see Samardzija in a spot that he has shown success.  

Chris Volstad, the player the Cubs got from the Marlins in the Zambrano trade, has had an equally impressive spring and should be a lock in the rotation with another 2 good appearances.  

With Garza and Dempster locks, and Paul Maholm and Travis Wood as probables, that leaves the last spot in the rotation open to Randy Wells, Rodrigo Lopez, Casey Coleman, Spellcheck, and Volstad.  

Volstad probably has the highest ceiling of any of those remaining players....and a strong spring will probably guarantee a spot in the rotation regardless of how anyone else does.  

That doesn't mean Samardzija won't get a chance to start.  Maholm is coming off a shoulder injury and you never know what else might happen...the Cubs were down two starters before the season was two weeks old last year.  

But...

Another possibility for Samardzija comes from the opposite end of the spectrum....could he become the closer?  

Carlos Marmol has had a lot of problems so far this spring.  With his velocity drop last year and his struggles so far this year, some people are starting to wonder if that wicked slider is starting to take a toll on his arm.  

The Cubs do have Kerry Wood to step in, but I'm not sure the new Cubs management team is all too excited at giving Wood the workload that is required of a closer, especially with his history of arm problems.

So if Samardzija has his location issues under control, he might be the best option to take over for a ailing/flailing Marmol. 

I'm scared and excited at all the possibilities Spellcheck's emergence may provide.  

F7 returns!

The Cubs best wide receiver returns to the field tonight.

Jeff Samardzija is back and he will start tonight for the Cubs against the Cardinals in St. Louis.

You can't have a post about Samardzija without a football picture.

I have felt for years that the contract given to Samardzija to ensure he didn't go and play football was a mistake. He has yet to prove me wrong.

After being demoted early this season, he proved to be somewhat inconsistent at Iowa this year assembling a 11-3 record with a 4.37 ERA. In reality, the record says more about his time in AAA than the ERA, as the Pacific Coast League tends to be much more of a hitter friendly league. The bigger problem for Spellcheck is that it appears that he is still having problems finding the strike zone. He was walking batters at a rate of 5.4 per 9 innings pitched. That's horrible. At the same time, he was able to avoid a large number of bats while in exile giving up only 86 hits and striking out 102 in 111 1/3 innings.  The conclusion?  The stuff is good...he just needs to zero in on the strike zone a bit more.

Cubs fans should be watching this game with great interest tonight. Spellcheck has only one more year guaranteed on his contract, and the Cubs should be demanding some results out of their investment at this point. With a rebuilding process well into motion, the Cubs will want to see some significant improvement out of Samardzija over the next 3 weeks because, at this point, if his development has stagnated, there are a number of other young kids who are going to be given a shot at making the team next year, and he will likely be left back in Iowa to finish up his contract with the other career minor leaguers next season (like Micah Hoffpauir and Sam Fuld).

So, Jeff...go out there and prove me wrong tonight. And GO IRISH!  (Stupid Irish couldn't beat Michigan...bastards!  New coach, new players, same crap!)

 UGH!

The Cubs must demote Jeff Samardzija

Ok...I've been very critical of the Cubs handling of Jeff Samardzija.  I do like the kid, and think he still has some potential.  I don't blame him for the struggles he has had.

But I had the opportunity to watch him warm up in the bullpen during yesterday's game.

Samardzija's wildness is not just an issue when he's put in a real game situation.  Yesterday, when he was warming up, he was extremely wild in the bullpen.  He has some serious mechanical problems still, and those problems cannot be fixed while blowing games for the Cubs.

The Cubs have to make the decision that Samardzija is going to be a relief pitcher and send him to the minor leagues to learn how to be a relief pitcher and to get his mechanics straighten out.  Period.

He as on the cusp of being thrown out of town by the fans right now (much like Soriano) and that just isn't fair for the kid.  The Cubs have set him up to fail...and to fail horribly.

He has got a great arm.  And I believe has the possibility to be as unhittable as Carlos Marmol.  The Cubs need to look beyond that ridiculous contract they gave him and turn him in to a relief pitcher.  Let's try to get something out of this contract they gave him. 

But if they don't act soon, they are going to lose Samardzija forever.

Despite the numbers, Samardzija isn't sucking as much. (and info on Aroldis Chapman)

I watched yesterday's game closely as Jeff Samardzija continued to make a bid for the 5th starter spot in the rotation.

He has come a long way in the last year.

I made mention before that in the two starts he had at the end of the season last year, he modified his pitching motion and that he looked much less like a javelin thrower up there and more like a pitcher.

And he has improved upon that since the end of last season.

The numbers haven't worked out quite yet...so far this spring he is 0-2 with an ERA near 7.00 (that doesn't include a start he had last week against some over-matched minor leaguers.)

What should the Cubs do with him?  Well, if it wasn't for the contract, I'd immediately say he should spend some time at Iowa this year and continue to work on being a starting pitcher.

His contract will probably make the Cubs do otherwise.  And that probably means he's headed to the bullpen again.  I really hate this because the Cubs have kept moving him back and forth his whole career.  Samardzija is still learning how to pitch and it would do him more good to have a more consistent approach to his development.

Other reason Spellcheck isn't likely to start the year in Iowa?  Well, because the Cubs are severely shorthanded right now in the bullpen.  The truth is, the Cubs need Samardzija to help setup Carlos Marmol.  Samardzija has thrown in the upper 90's with his fastball as a reliever in the past.  A kid with that ability could really be a shutdown setup man in the big leagues.  I don't see him being much more than a 3rd or 4th starter in the major leagues

But back to the point, Samardzija is vastly improved.  I'm very happy to see that he is making significant progress.

But, to me, it isn't enough for him to get a starting job on this team yet.

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After Samardzija left the game yesterday, I switched over to the Red and Rockies game to watch Aroldis Chapman pitch.  I've seen him pitch a bit earlier in the season, and he has the stuff to be absolutely dominant.

In his first inning, he was again dominant yesterday.

The second inning...not so much.

Some very interesting points about this kid:

He has a very slow delivery to the plate.  Even though he is a left handed pitcher, he is very easy to steal against right now.  I looks as if the Reds are trying to work on this.

He has some serious issues right now when he's pitching from the stretch.  He's working on muting his high leg kick, but has some work to do there.  Hopefully the Reds have more success with this than the Marlins and Tigers did when they tried to reduce Dontrelle Willis's leg kick. 

His best pitch isn't his fastball...it's his change up.  It is quite an amazing pitch...where his fast ball is 95 -98, his change up is 79 mph with almost the exact arm motion and speed.  That's impressive and is going to have players swinging out of their shoes.

One last note on Chapman...he hurt his back and he wasn't able to finish his outing yesterday.

Did Dusty break his new toy already?

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Today?

Ryan Dempster will start against the Royals in Surprise.  Ramirez might be back in the lineup today as the DH.  The Royals telecast will be available on MLB.tv (and I think the game is going to be broadcast on MLB Network today too).  The game should also be available on mlb.com audio and Gameday audio.