SAN FRANCISCO — It’s official: Jeff Samardzija won’t be the first starting pitcher to lead the major leagues in ERA in a winless season.
Now Cubs fans can turn their attention to something far more important: Will he be the first guy to win just one of his first 20 starts and still make the All-Star team?
Samardzija won for the first time in 11 starts this season when the Cubs beat the San Francisco Giants 8-4 on Monday afternoon.
The hard-luck right-hander allowed three earned runs, which increased his ERA to 1.68. The league leader in that category at day’s start, he fell .01 behind the new pace-setter, St. Louis Cardinals right-hander Adam Wainwright.
Samardzija is scheduled to make nine more starts before the All-Star Game, probably seven of which will come before the rosters are chosen.
While it’s unlikely a guy with a 1.68 ERA will go winless in his next seven starts, it was even more unlikely a guy with a 1.46 ERA entering Monday’s play would go winless in his first 10 starts.
Wins or no wins, Samardzija currently ranks as far-and-away the Cubs’ leading All-Star candidate. The only competition at this point would come from another starting pitcher, right-hander Jason Hammel, who is 5-3 with a 3.08 ERA.
Hammel ranks among the league leaders in WHIP at 0.90.