San Francisco Giants 2016 Season Grades: Starting Pitchers
. RHP. San Francisco Giants. JEFF SAMARDZIJA. B
I had relatively low expectations for Samardzija coming into 2016. He was awful with the White Sox, granted they’re a terrible organization, and were a terrible team last year. However, he had roughly one good season with the Cubs, and I was skeptical of that being the basis of the Giants contract agreement with him. That and how many innings he had left in his arm. That being said, he was a pleasant surprise.
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I halfway expected the type of numbers Cain and Peavy put up to come from Samardzija, but he had a solid year. Samardzija’s 3.81 ERA, coupled with a 1.2 WHIP was more than what I was expecting from him. It goes to show what happens when you put good, hardworking ballplayers into a winning environment. Yes, that’s a shot at the White-Sox.
Samardzija exceded expectations for me in 2016, and I’m looking forward to his 2017 campaign. He also got through 200+ innings, which was a first for him in his MLB career.
Samardzija will be a part of the Giants’ organization for the for-seeable future if he keeps putting up numbers like he did in 2016.