The White Sox thought they were getting the perfect combination punch to unite with the team’s haymaker, Chris Sale, when they added Jeff Samardzija to the rotation this offseason.
To the chagrin of many South Siders, he’s been anything but a legitimate No. 2 starter.
Samardzija was the only pitcher in baseball to have four games this year in which he gave up eight runs or more. He has an ERA of 4.96 with an 11-13 record on the season. Against top-notch opponents, he went 1-6 with a 7.50 ERA against the Royals, Yankees, Rangers, Angels, Cubs and Pirates.
He’s been such a disappointment that he landed on Jayson Stark’s End-of-Season Awards. He notched the claim of being the AL’s Cy Yuk recipient — which isn’t to be confused with the Cy Young award.
The Shark beat out Bud Norris, Fernando Rodney and Jeremy Guthrie for the not-so-great award.
It will be interesting to see where he lands in free agency this winter.
