Manager Dale Sveum and pitching coach Chris Bosio have past history as both teammates and coaching staff colleagues for the Brewers. With the hire of Deer, there is now a third former Brewer player to join the staff. The former Milwaukee slugger will work as a staff assistant regarding hitting. To be clear, hitting coach James Rowson, who took over for the fired Rudy Jaramillo in June of 2012, will keep his job. Deer will assist Rowson, but the former Brewer will not be dressed in uniform during games.

September 9, 2012; Pittsburgh, PA, USA; Chicago Cubs hitting coach James Rowson (38) in the dugout before playing the Pittsburgh Pirates at PNC Park. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-US PRESSWIRE

Deer’s coaching resume basically consists of several years of being a roving hitting instructor for the Padres (yet another connection, this time with Hoyer). His time with San Diego includes Rizzo’s 2011 season with the Padres. Deer consistently hit 20+ home runs during the bulk of his 12 year career, the majority of which was spent in the American League.

However, Deer is probably more well known for holding the AL strikeouts in a season record with 186 in 1987, which was broken only a few years ago. In fact, Deer led the league in strikeouts four times in his career. In every season in which Deer recorded double digit home runs, the flip side of the coin were strikeout totals of 120+ plus, averaging 157.6 strikeouts per season over a nine year stretch. With those dubious totals in mind, the decision to hire Deer as a hitting assistant is an interesting one, considering the current front office’s disdain for the most unproductive out form in the game of baseball. On top of that, we are talking about a Cubs offense that has struck out over 1,200 times in each of the past three seasons. Compare that to the 1,100 and less (978 by the Cardinals in 2011) of the past three World Series winners during that same span, and it does not take much to realize that area is one this team’s offense needs to work on cutting down.

To be fair, Deer was able to draw his share of walks, which is typically an inversely proportional statistic compared to strikeouts. While Deer’s strike outs to walks ratio does not compare to the likes of an Adam Dunn, it will be interesting to see how his influence will impact the 2013 Cubs offense under Rowson.

Other than his great hair and style, he’s classy, effective on the mound and entertaining in the dugout. I remember one distinct occasion during the 2012 season where Jeff was being interviewed by Len and Bob and Matt Garza was throwing sunflower seeds at him. Jeff was then asked about the dynamic in the clubhouse among the pitchers. He replied:

It’s not hard to have fun when you work with a bunch of idiots all the time

Not too much more you can ask from a regular guy in the rotation. I’m sure Garza had a little something to say about his comments too… but I digress.

Aug 8, 2012; San Diego, CA, USA; Chicago Cubs starting pitcher Jeff Samardzija (29) pitches during the second inning against the San Diego Padres at Petco Park. Mandatory Credit: Jake Roth-US PRESSWIRE

Samardzija had a career year with the Cubs not based on his numbers, but based on his performance. Pitchers in general take a significant amount of time to learn effective mixes and ways to work certain batters – Samardzija made leaps and bounds this season. He looks significantly more comfortable and especially confident when facing strong hitters.

While his .409 W-L%, 3.38 xFIP and 3.81 ERA don’t show any sort of Roy Halladay like dominance, there’s one stat that is worth taking note of: number of innings pitched.

As a basic rule for anyone new to statistical analysis, 200 innings pitched/season is fantastic and in a perfect world, all starters would be able to reach that milestone. Samardzija, in 28 starts in 2012 logged 174.1 total IP which is pretty damned close to logging a full 200. Considering in 2011 he only amassed 88.0 IP and his 2012 totals exceed his collective 08-11 numbers, there’s been significant improvement in his arm strength, control and confidence. We can all thank pitching coach Chris Bosio for that one.

Still not convinced? Have a look at this:

Samardzija posted a 1.295 WHIP in 2011 having faced 380 batters. In 2012, he threw 86.4 more innings, faced 343 more batters and managed to drop his WHIP to 1.219.

This is an improvement the Cubs will certainly bank on.

Samardzija’s 1 year/$2.64M contract has expired and he will now go to an arbitration process for the first time in his career. Considering the vast improvements in his game, you can expect the Cubs to ink him up for a 2-3 year deal at roughly $3.25M a season, if not more. Samardzija’s splitter is known as one of the best in baseball (opposing batters posting a .183 wOBA when facing it) and his physical strength is never a question. Samardzija is known for pounding the low part of the zone relentlessly and not changing the approach vs left handed batters. His splitter for example, finds its way to the low part of the zone which can often inflate his HR/9, but not to the point of concern.

The arbitration process should be one of ease for the Cubs, as they’ve expressed interest in making him a solid 2-3 starter at the very least. The Cubs are in serious need of solid pitching and Samardzija’s 3.3 WAR would be a welcome addition to the rotation. If he can achieve his maximum ceiling, he may be the Cubs’ ace one day but this would take much refinement and lots of time in majors working out the kinks.

I look forward to seeing Jeff pitch for Chicago in 2013, and hope he shows even more improvement on his otherwise already solid fundamentals.

Chicago Cubs’ closing pitcher Carlos Marmol’s struggles finally may have reached a boiling point for Cubs’ manager Dale Sveum. Marmol has struggled throughout the entire 2012 season. Even in times the closer has earned the save, Marmol has not looked effective.

In 12 appearances this season, Marmol has allowed six earned runs (6.23 ERA) on 8 hits and 12 base on balls while striking out 8 batters. Marmol’s 2012 struggles were only a continuation from the closer’s 2011 season that saw the pitcher blow 10 saves to go along with a 4.01 ERA.  In an off-season that featured a lot of turnover for the Cubs’ organization, there was speculation that Marmol could be one of the victims of the regime change. However, both Cubs’ President Theo Epstein and General Manager Jed Hoyer expressed confidence that Marmol would regain the form that earned him the label of being one the most dominating closers in all of baseball. The confidence continued in Spring Training. During the early portions of Spring Training, new Cubs’ pitching coach Chris Bosio suggested to reporters that the coaching staff has found some flaws with what Marmol was doing last season.

Among the flaws that Marmol had during the 2011 season, the closer fell in love with his slider rather than using his fastball. In 2011, Marmol used his slider 64% of time as opposed to his fastball which he used 36% of the time. If one were to look back when Marmol was last effective, the 2010 season, Marmol used his fastball 41% of the time and his slider 59% of the time. In 2012, Marmol has reverted back to his 2010 ratio. So far this season, the Cubs’ closer has used his fastball 47.9% of the time and his slider 52.1% of the time.

With Marmol’s continuing to struggle, it stands to reason that Cubs still have yet to find what is plaguing their closer. Sveum has been patient up to this point. But, this is not the 103 year World Series draught that we are talking about. We are talking about a closer that is continuing to put the team in jeopardy. Just like how every contestant’s time on the television game-show titled “Jeopardy” must come to an end, Marmol’s time as Cubs’ closer has to come to an end.

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