Samardzija Will Pitch on Wednesday for His First Major League Start

With Big Z out with an injury, Jeff Samardzija a.k.a The Shark will finally make his long awaited debut as a starter for the Chicago Cubs. To think of it, Shark is probably the most successful player to come out of the 2005/2006 football team. Although you could argue for Carlson who is being tabbed as "White Jesus" in Seattle. All others are backups right now in their respective teams. It was just a couple of years ago that The Shark chose baseball over football. He was given a major league contract which is the second best contract only behind of Brady Quinn, and it is somewhat similar to that of a late first round draft pick in the NFL. Wise move because of the guranteed money and longevity of playing time.

I'm a big Cubs fan, so I follow the Shark. To say the least, he is having a really bad year especially with the way he performed during the second half of last season in MLB. Shark was basically unhittable last year, and the team and Lou had great expectations for him coming in to this year. His audition for a starting pitched during the offseason was awful. He was sent back and pitched well then called back again but as reliever in the bullpen. This year, he is basically giving up a run(s) every time he is called out, and that is no exageration. That's how bad he is this year.

But when he pitches as a starter he is very very good especially when he pitched for the Iowa Cubs. This is a great chance for the Shark to show Lou that he does not bellong in the bullpen, and if he does show his good stuff this Wednesday, there is a good chance for him to stay there for the whole season. This will allow Ryan Dempster to go back to the bull pen and make the Cubs' bull pen very strong.

The Shark will go against the defending champion, Phillies. It is at home, so Shark better be in his game. Earlier this year, Shark was booed off by the Cubs faithful for increasing the opponent's lead. If I remember correctly, the next day, he was sent back to AAA.

I think he'll do just fine. He'll give up about 4 (plus or minus 2) runs. He'll pitch six innings. It will be up to his batters if he gets his second win (first as the starting pitcher) this season. For him to pitch well and get the W, his first pitch better be strike and get ahead of the batters and finish it off with his fastball.

Let's Go Shark.