Jeff Samardzija, San Francisco Giants
Remember when the Giants spent a ton of money to bring in Jeff Samardzija and Johnny Cueto and form a big three with Madison Bumgarner? Yea, that hasn’t worked out.
Shark’s 2017 season was actually quite productive despite his 4.42 ERA. He still managed to post 3.8 fWAR during that campaign to go along with a career-high 3.8% walk rate and near-career-high 24.2% strikeout rate. None of that happened last year, and it all started with his health. The 34-year-old right-hander tossed just 44 total innings due to three different stints on the injured list.
His strikeout rate (14.5%) and walk rate (12.6%) both regressed much more than anyone would’ve anticipated, and his 6.25 ERA also wasn’t fun. Shark threw his fastball at a 53.0% clip, which was his highest usage rate since 2014 (55.2%). Although continued shoulder issues could’ve been the culprit, his velocity dropped two full miles per hour compared to the last couple years (94.3 mph in ’17, 92.3 in ’18). Samardzija allowed at least a 140 wRC+ on both his sinker and four-seamer, but this number just seems too whacky to be true: his four-seamer (which he threw 102 times) produced a 28.6% walk rate and 4.6% strikeout rate.
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