Samardzija always working on his game

MESA, Ariz. - Go ahead and call Jeff Samardzija a "raw" talent. He doesn't mind.

"We're getting there," Samardzija said Sunday. "I don't mind being considered a raw talent. Even if I wasn't, I wouldn't mind being called that just because you always have something to work on.

"I think it's a better mentality to take than, 'Hey, he's already ceilinged-out. I understand where it's coming from, and I think it's partially true. I just want to get on the mound and pitch as much as possible, especially against hitters like this, big-league hitters.

"That was a big part for me saying I wanted to be in the big leagues, whether it's starting or relieving, to be facing that talent every day."

The 24-year-old Samardzija has worked on just about everything in his professional career, which began way back in 2006. He has worked on starting. He has worked on relieving. He has worked on developing his pitches.

After coming to camp in the mix to win the fifth-starter's spot, he got word the other day that Sean Marshall got the job. With nothing guaranteed, Samardzija must battle for a bullpen spot.

Initially, he said he was disappointed.

"Obviously," he said, without bitterness. "I worked real hard this off-season, and I worked real hard at what I wanted to do. Things happen for different reasons. Like I've said from Day One, I just want to pitch. Wherever that is, that is. The arm feels good."

"I don't know what their plans are totally. We'll leave it up to them."

Samardzija began prepping for bullpen work Saturday, when he struck out two in 1 inning of work against the White Sox. For the spring, he's 0-1 with a 9.00 ERA, having given up 16 hits in 11 innings while walking four and striking out eight.

Of course, a 1-inning stint is nothing new to Samardzija. He came up from the minor leagues last July and pitched effectively out of the bullpen, posting a 1-0 record with a 2.28 ERA and 1 save.

"I don't think it's really an adjustment," he said. "Pitching is pitching. Knowing that you're going to be throwing more than 1 or 2 innings is a little adjustment. But other than that I think you still go out attacking the hitters."

What to do with Samardzija long term has been one of the burning questions facing the Cubs since they took the former Notre Dame football star in the fourth round of the '06 draft.

"I'm bipolar when it comes to that," he said. "I'm impatient in one part. I want to start now. But that's just the competitor in me. But the other side is the one that understands that I'm still only 24, and I still have a lot to learn.

"Hopefully, knock on wood, I'll be playing this game for a while, and we'll be able to pick some things up along the way.

"So half of me is patient, and half of me is not patient at all."

If Samardzija is going to start, he will need more than two pitches. So far his fastball and split-finger have been his strengths.

"The changeup's been great," he said. "I've thrown it a few times in a games early in the count with guys that we know are swinging. It's been a (heck) of a pitch for me, staying down in the zone. The splitty is still 50-50. Yesterday, we got them to swing at two at the shoulders. If they want to do that, they can do that all they want.

"The slider's been my slider. I don't think it's an amazing pitch. I don't think it's a dynamic pitch like my splitty, but I think it's, at times, a great pitch to use early in the count or even behind in the count. I think they're all there."

Like several other pitchers competing for a job, Samardzija probably will learn his immediate fate next week, when the Cubs break camp. The way he sees it, the more he can do, the better.

"I think just a versatile guy, someone who doesn't need two weeks if they did need me to start or go back to the pen," he said. "I don't need a long gray area to get ready to do one or the other.

"I'd like to keep it open for them. I can do anything for them. I feel my arm's in the shape where if they told me one day, 'Hey, we're going to need you to start in three days,' I can do that and still go 5 or 6 innings. That's the good part for me, to be versatile and able to do anything. Any way that can help the team out is a good thing."