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SAN FRANCISCO – Jeff Samardzija signed a series of marks in the spring, but somewhere along that route, he realized that the destination had changed.
The Giants no longer wanted him as a 200-run workhorse. Also, while Samardzija was diligently returning from an injury to the shoulder causing an injury to the season, he was focusing on a new goal. It would be not more, but throws less. He mixed his fields, prepared the batters and used all his arsenal. Most of his nights would be shorter, but with more success, hopefully.
Samardzija had the best of both worlds on Thursday.
The right-hander has rocked the Rockies all night in what has become his best start for well over a year, with three hits and seven shots on goal in a 1-0 win. Samardzija has won his first victory since last April, when Kevin Pillar scored his third circuit of the week at the top of the eighth.
Samardzija scored an ERA of 1.62 on three starts. He had a 6.25 ERA last season.
PILLAR POWER ? pic.twitter.com/4A11FbHSc3
– SF Giants on NBCS (@NBCSGiants) April 12, 2019
"Last year was not a good year for me but I learned a lot," Samardzija said. "Go out and throw 15 times or more with nothing and an injured arm, even if it's Double-A or Triple-A, it does not matter, you can still find a way to go out with things B, C. go for it and feel good that you are not taking it for granted and that you are taking the same approach you had before.
"You just do not get hurt in the area, be smart, understand the throws that are going well for you that day and use and use them, it's really been a small evolution for me and a process."
Samardzija mumbled the Rockies early in the evening, and Charlie Blackmon was nearly excluded after taking the third shot in the third inning. Samardzija called 13 batters in the first three innings only, which corresponds to his record of his two previous outings. He finished with 20 strikes called, and three of his seven retirees were looking for.
"When the referee sees you hitting your places when you are supposed to do it, they often give you that shot," Samardzija said. "These umps are attentive to the game and when you run, they reward you for it."
Four of the batting outings came on the slider and three on the tracer, and all were on throws between 80 and 89 mph. Samardzija's strategy has certainly changed: the fastball has gone down – it was 94.1 mph on Thursday and its peak of the season is 94.4 – but it works. Samardzija came into the night by throwing his pan, slider and cutter between 22 and 27% of the time, also mixing four couturiers and curved balls. , according to Baseball-Savant.com.
"He definitely mixes more throws," said manager Bruce Bochy. "He still uses his fastball very well, but it's not a guy trying to fight his way into a training … I think it's fair to say that he was more a powerful guy and that he has evolved. "
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Bochy will continue to evolve with his use of Samardzija. He added that even this release did not tempt him to let Samardzija regularly perform more than 100 launches. The focus is on five very good innings. All that goes beyond is sauce and Thursday, that's what Bochy had. It's the longest scoreless start for Samardzija since he launched a shutout on August 28, 2017. His seven strikeouts have been his best since September 15 this season.
"It was good," Samardzija said. "Today was a good day."
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