From Patrick Mooney of CSNChicago.com …
MILWAUKEE – Matt Garza has a simple message for Jeff Samardzija: “Pitch your way out of there.”
The Cubs used to be a destination, but now it sounds more like a place where the inmates are hoping for early parole. Just ask Garza, who escaped last summer, getting traded to the Texas Rangers in the heat of a pennant race.
This was after the Cubs fell to the Brewers 5-3 on Saturday night in Milwaukee and dropped to 10 1/2 game back in the National League Central standings.
Samardzija owns a stellar 1.53 ERA in five starts this season but doesn’t have a win.
“I told him: ‘It doesn’t matter, dude. You play in Chicago,'” Garza said late Saturday. “I was there and I lost 30 wins in three seasons. So it’s not your fault. Just pitch your way out of it. … There’s nothing else you can do. … I’m hoping the best for him. He’s a young kid who deserves a shot to maybe go win something.”
Samardzija is scheduled to become a free agent after the 2015 season. Negotiations about a long-term extension have not gone far, and the thought is that he might be traded at some point this summer.
