Jeff Samardzija says his career-worst 2015 season was down to him tipping his pitches.
The right-hander had an ERA under 4 over the three seasons prior to last, but Samardzija’s 2015 was one to forget, with his ERA ballooning to 4.96 and leading the league in hits, earned runs, and home runs allowed. Samardzija believes there is a simple explanation.
“When you’re tipping your pitches it’s hard to have a ton of success out there,” Samardzija said in a press conference Friday, via the Sporting News’s Joe Rodgers. “Everyone has got a ton of film on you.
“Hours and hours and years and years, and you need to stay ahead of that. If anything it just made me realize that you do always have to stay on top of little things like that, how long you’re holding the ball when you’re set, how long you’re holding it when you’re throwing a slider, when you’re throwing a splitter.”
The Giants just handed Samardzija a 5 year, $90 million contract, so they’ll be hoping that tipping pitches is all it was, not the beginning of a decline phase.
