Why Jeff Samardzija is the MVP for San Francisco Giants in 2017

In a season full of injuries and disappointment, Jeff Samardzija has been the most consistent part of the San Francisco Giants.

After another solid outing on Tuesday, Jeff Samardzija continues to be a reliable pitcher for the Giants. The game against the Brewers was his fourth quality start of the month. And he’s gone at lest six innings in 14 of his last 15 starts.

But what has made Samardzija so valuable this year is his dependability. He leads the National League with 167.2 innings pitched. That’s almost 25 more innings than the next most on the San Francisco Giants.

The Giants have certainly had a lot of injuries in their starting rotation this year. Samardzija has helped alleviate some of that pain by going deep into games and saving the bullpen.

His ERA isn’t where you hoped it would be when the Giants signed him for $90 million, but his dependability goes a long way.

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And it’s not like he’s been a terrible pitcher this year. It’s just that in games where he’s been bad, he’s been really bad. He’s had nine starts this year where he’s given up four or more runs, and he’s third in the league with 12 losses.

On the other hand, he’s 12th in the major leagues with 16 quality starts. He’s given the Giants a chance to win a lot of games when he’s on the mound, and he’s tied for the team lead with eight wins.

There has been some interest from other teams wanting to acquire Samardzija, but I’m glad the Giants have held onto him.

Even though you’d like him to be more consistent, his ability to go deep into games is invaluable.

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He’s thrown over 200 innings in four straight years, and is on pace to make it five in a row. As the San Francisco Giants try to turn things around for 2018, we know we can depend on Jeff Samardzija.