The Cubs probably should have swept the Nats, but at least they salvaged a victory in the final game behind a superb performance from Jeff Samardzija. I have to admit I had to hold my breath a bit when Marmol was summoned to get the final out after a Castro error extended the game enough for LaRoche to hit a home run to make the score 4-3.
I have been a bit of a skeptic all through spring training with respect to Samardzija's conversion to the starting rotation. Today's outing is beginning to make me a believer. He was still throwing 97mph in the ninth and would have had a complete game were it not for the Castro throwing error.
Some pitchers take longer than others to figure things out and sometimes being able to throw really hard can make that process even more difficult. Samardzija showed good signs of becoming a pitcher last year when he had a good full season in the bullpen.
I'm glad to see he has turned it around and he may well become the kind of impact starter this franchise seems to have had trouble producing in recent seasons. I always thought the prior regime seriously messed up his career development, forcing him to the majors much too soon and then dropping him back and forth from AAA to MLB and from starting to the bullpen.
Glad also to see LaHair in the lineup at 1B. He collected two nice doubles. He's another guy who never really had a shot during the Hendry era even though he put up monster numbers in AAA.
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