Cubs Close To Signing Samardzija

[awefullspellare]

He might not be getting paid...

[DirtyKash]

Samardzija has been called up to the big leagues!

[catman]

I had a chance to talk to him last weekend in Des Moines. He is a nice young man. I wish him well.

[nick]

The potential is there for him to be a very solid starter. Then again, he could also wind up as another bullpen arm. Reading his career so far has been anything but clear, but I'm really pleased with his debut.

I'm also really glad he got the call instead of someone who has been up and down 15 times this year. I think it's smart that he's being pushed through quickly. You don't pay someone the money he got for them to develop for the next 4-5 years. Even if he goes right back down, this is going to be a nice learning experience for him and he'll benefit from it in one way or another.

I watched the game today. He certainly has an electrifying fastball and a nice pressance on the mound, but the key for his longterm success is working on his secondary offerings. He really could use some refining on that little slider he throws, and if he wants to project as more than just a reliever in the longrun, he's going to have to learn to throw some sort of offspeed pitch consistently. I know he has worked on a curve and change, and if he can improve on one or the other (or both) and garner enough confidence to throw it regularly, it would be big. Keeping in mind that he throws 96-98 every time he unleashes a fastball, and the few sliders he threw were in the 85 MPH range, a change or curve could completely catch batters off guard depending on how he threw it, and keep batters guessing for the heat.

Like I said, very nice debut, and even if he goes right back down when Wood comes off the DL, I think it was worth calling a guy like him up and we'll likely see him again in September.

[rockin500]

he got his first major league save today ( a 2 IP one)

[DMBZeppelin]

He was throwing a nice splitter today. He's got all the tools to be a good starter. Hopefully in 2009 that happens. I also like how he's gotten better with every promotion. He struggled in A ball last year. They promoted him to AA (or was it from rookie to A?) and he responded by kicking ass. He struggled in AA this year, and they promoted him to AAA and he was awesome. They promote him to the MLB, and he's looked that much better.

[redsrbetter]

That stuff has an amazing sink to it. Sick!