Yes, Jeff Samardzija is up for adjusting to baseball’s modern analytical way of thinking. And, yes, he insists he’ll adapt to the game’s new health and safety guidelines amid the coronavirus pandemic.
But the grizzled Giants pitcher still has plenty of old school in him — the give-me-the-ball-and-forget-pitch-counts kind of old school.
Samardzija, 35, is eager to open the season with an ample workload and said throwing 75 to 80 pitches in his season debut “is not a stretch.”
This is a perfect time for a reminder that Gabe Kapler is the Giants’ new manager, and he and president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi, in his second year on the job, will have a different way of using players than the previous administration.
That type of workload, despite Samardzija’s intention to pitch deep into games, doesn’t exactly fit in with today’s pitching philosophies adhered to by Kapler and Zaidi.
They’ve already promised that it won’t be a traditional five-man rotation in which the starters throw a bunch of innings. Openers could be used far more often, with “bulk” pitchers to follow — Kapler said Saturday that’ll be Logan Webb’s initial role. Or a couple of guys tossing three innings apiece.
While management might respect Samardzija’s mind-set, the reality is that three innings, maybe four, is all that’s anticipated for the starters early on. That goes for Samardzija, Johnny Cueto, Kevin Gausman and Drew Smyly — and anyone else who gets the ball in the first inning.
“A lot of this is what our physical capability is going to be in getting these guys ready to throw three-plus innings in a such a short period of time,” Kapler said. “It’s not going to be easy to get them built up.
“We can be creative and build them up as much as we can with intense bullpen sessions, with live bullpen sessions. But we have only the number of days on the calendar that we have. The one thing we’re adamantly against is putting our pitchers in position where they’re not safe.
“So that will be the No. 1 driving factor, how many pitches a pitcher can go their first time through the rotation, how many innings they can take down, how healthy and how safe they are, and really nothing else.”
For the record, Samardzija’s workload was down last season compared with a five-year stretch through 2017 when he averaged 212 innings. Shoulder issues wiped out most of his 2018 season, and he came back in 2019 a different pitcher.
Samardzija, who didn’t miss a start, showed more of an off-speed repertoire and had less velocity (averaging a career-low 91.9 mph) and threw fewer innings (181 ⅓ innings). He spoke in mid-March before baseball was shut down about getting back to throwing harder.
At the time, the scheduled season was two weeks away. The Giants have a little more than that now, but not enough for pitchers to reach enough innings to qualify for a victory (five). To be sure, most of the innings at the start of the season will be by relievers, not starters.
That doesn’t change Samardzija’s mentality.
“I’d hate to put a pitch count on it. I think that’s the problem we have with the game when it comes to pitching,” he said. “You’ve got to take individual guys on an individual basis. How are they looking in their bullpens, live BPs, that given game? ...
“To lump everyone in one category is wrong. I know that’s what’s happening. As a pitcher, you want to see how many outs you can get and protect that lead and do your job.”
Through it all, Samardzija said he’s open to however the pitching plan turns out.
“We’ve never done this before,” he said. “We’ve never had this scenario of ramping up and ramping down and ramping up again. It’s going to be about the individual. Some guys might feel good. The time off might’ve been good for them. ...
“Other guys might need some more time. I personally think if things go as planned with the way we’ve been building up, to be at 75-80 pitches when the season comes is not a stretch.”
John Shea covers the Giants for The San Francisco Chronicle. Email: jshea@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @JohnSheaHey
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