(USA TODAY Sports Images)
Jeff Samardzija looks like a pirate but he pitches for the Cubs. As such, he’s had some trouble getting run support in his starts throughout his career, and especially at the start of the 2014 season.
After a stellar nine-inning, one-run performance against the White Sox in the Cubs’ 11-inning loss at Wrigley Field, Samardzija now boats a 1.62 ERA though his first seven starts. He has zero wins to show for it.
That must be some kind of record. And, as it turns out, it is. Samardzija became the first pitcher in the live-ball era — and one of only two since 1917 — to open a season with seven straight starts of at least five innings with fewer than three earned runs and record no wins in the process.
Even the last guy to do it, George “Pea Soup” Dumont of the 1917 Washington Senators, wasn’t quite as good as Samardzija over his season-starting winless stretch. Dumont sported a 1.94 ERA after seven outings.
Of course, as remarkable as Samardzija’s bad luck has been, similarly unfortunate starts aren’t anything new in Chicago.
Some might argue that Samardzija’s failure to earn a win thus far this season is most damning for the use of win-loss record to evaluate pitchers, and not for Samardzija. They’re wrong, though: It’s most damning for the Cubs.
