Once again it is collaborative post time here on Call to the Pen. This month’s topic is September call-ups. To get the ball rolling, I posed the following question to each of our Lead Writers, “Which player do you want your team to call-up in September and why?” It is a simple question but I think you will find the responses to be very diverse.
Taking the path less traveled this month, I decided to post each team’s write-up individually instead of grouping them by league or division as we have done in the past.
Representing the Chicago Cubs and Cubbies Crib is the site’s Lead Writer, Jordan Campbell. Check out what he has to say after the jump.
Jordan’s Take:
There is no question that for a team like the Chicago Cubs, September Call ups are very beneficial to see what young players they have that can help be a part of their rebuilding phase. However, I feel the one player that should be called up in September for the Chicago Cubs is a player that Cubs have already seen in the big leagues few times before. And, that player is starting pitcher Jeff Samardzija.
When the Chicago Cubs drafted Samardzija in 2007, they treated him as if he was a first overall pick. They overpaid him to the extent of a major league contract at 5 years for $10MM with a full no trade clause in order for him to commit to Baseball instead of enter the NFL draft. To this point, the Chicago Cubs have not seen anything out of Jeff Samardzija to warrant them giving him a larger contract for a rookie. In fact Samardzija has yet to last half of a season in the majors, and the Cubs used his last option when they sent him down earlier in the year. Meaning the next year the Chicago Cubs call up Samardzija, they will have to risk putting him through waivers if they want to send him down.
The knock on Samardzija over the course of his professional career is that he could not develop a secondary pitch to his fastball. That, in part, has stalled his progression as a major league pitcher. Reports out of Iowa have Samardzija throwing a cutter that reached 92, and he’s reportedly having success with it as a strikeout pitch. But that still should not raise up optimism, because Samardzija also needs to develop an off-speed pitch to be more effective as a starter.
The Chicago Cubs are probably going to have two open spots in their starting rotation this off-season, which is why they need to bring Samardzija up as a September call up. They have to see if Samardzija has made enough progress to pitch with some sort of ease and success. If he can, it may go a long way in determining whether or not the Cubs want to go after a free agent starting pitcher.
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My Notes:
I get where Jordan is coming from but Jeff Samardzija still has a lot to figure out in AAA. While his numbers in Iowa have been better as a starter, he’s posted a 4.76 ERA with 34 BB and 48 SO in his last 10 starts and 56.2 innings pitched. He’s still inconsistent, he still has problems with control, and he still can’t put hitters away when he needs to. That, to me, is not a guy you want to throw into the fire of the majors again. He’s not ready, he may never be ready and it is looking more and more as if he will be a sunk cost when all is said and done. But fear not Cubs fans, he is signed through 2011 and better yet, the Cubs have team options on the deal for the 2012 and 2013 seasons.
If they want to give a look at a starting pitcher that has a chance to find success, they’d be better off calling up 22-year old righty Jay Jackson.