Houston Astros “doing background work” on Jeff Samardzija

With the trade deadline on the horizon, sources say the Houston Astros are interested in San Francisco Giants starting pitcher Jeff Samardzija.

For both the San Francisco Giants and Houston Astros, this season has not been exactly what they expected. For the Giants, their subpar start forced them to examine their roster and consider opening up shop.

Meanwhile, the Astros’ abundant success this season masks their inescapable need for pitching depth. Although their starting pitchers got off to a fantastic start, the Astros are in need of adding a solidified arm to their rotation and they are taking a look at Jeff Samardzija.

Although Samardzija is 4-10 with a 4.58 ERA in 18 starts, he is 10^th in baseball with 127 strikeouts. Furthermore, his 118 innings pitched is good for sixth in the National League and he pitched past the sixth innings in all, but three of his seasons this season.

However, the problem that has shrouded Samardzija’s season and caused his subpar record is the lack of run support. Because the Giants have scored the third lowest number of runs in the major leagues, Samardzija is working with an average of 3.5 runs per start. Only Jason Hammel (3.4), his rotation mate Matt Moore (3.3) and Ricky Nolasco (2.8) deal with worse offensive support.

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If the Astros lineup continues to produce the way they did in the first half, run support will be the least of Samardzija’s worries.

Their team slash line of .290/.356/.501 leads the major leagues, along with their combined homers and runs scored. Individually, the Astros brag at least one player in each major offensive category, including Jose Altuve and his major league-leading .349 batting average.

At the same time, Samardzija provides much needed depth and reinforcement to Houston’s pitching staff. Thus far, this season has battered the Astros rotation, leading Collin McHugh and Dallas Keuchel to the disabled list and wearing down Lance McCullers Jr. and Joe Musgrove. Not to mention, they lost David Paulino to an 80-game suspension when he tested positive for PEDs.

Even at their best, the Astros rotation struggled to pitch deep into their starts and increases the bullpen’s workload. With their 4.04 reliever ERA, the Astros are eighth in the major leagues with 312 innings from the bullpen. Samardzija’s ability to pitch deep into games not only improves Houston’s rotation, but provides their bullpen with some much-needed relief.

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Since signing a five-year deal with the Giants in 2015, Samardzija is guaranteed $19.8 million per year through 2020. Additionally, they will need to give up at least one of the top prospects in their loaded minor league system. In any case, with the prized Jose Quintana already scooped up by the Chicago Cubs, Samardzija is increasingly becoming a viable trading piece for the Astros to add to their rotation.