Jeff Samardzija - pictured during his key start vs. then-#15 Texas A&M - has rocketed into a spot among the top-40 college prospects for the 2006 Major League Draft (photo by Pete LaFleur).

Notre Dame's Jeff Samardzija And Jeff Manship Upgraded To Top-50 Status On Midseason Draft Prospects List

April 25, 2006

Notre Dame junior righthanded pitchers Jeff Samardzija (Valparaiso, Ind.) and Jeff Manship (San Antonio, Texas) have been attracting plenty of attention from professional scouts throughout the 2006 season and both of the talented pitchers recently were upgraded by Baseball America into top-50 status on the magazine’s midseason list of college prospects who are eligible for the 2006 Major League Draft. North Carolina is the only team with two starting pitchers rated higher than the Notre Dame duo while Missouri is the only other team with two starting pitchers among BA‘s current top-50 prospects. Samardzija had been slotted 94th in BA‘s preseason list of the college game’s top prospects, with the two-sport star making the third-biggest jump (54 spots) from the preseason to midseason list. Manship was 75th on the preseason list of top college prospects, moving up 34 spots for the seventh-biggest jump among players on the current top-50 prospects list.

475918.jpeg

Jeff Manship – who was the No. 3-rated freshman in all of college baseball entering the 2004 season – has returned from injury to earn a spot on the midseason top-50 prospects list (photo by Pete LaFleur).

spacer.gif

spacer.gif

UNC’s pair of high-rated pitching prospects include LHP Andrew Miller (1st) and RHP Daniel Bard (9th), who lost to Notre Dame in an elimination game at the 2005 NCAA Gainesville Regional. Missouri’s pair of starting pitchers on the top-50 prospects list include righthander Max Scherzer (5th) and lefthander Nathan Culp (49th). Arizona State is the only other team with two pitchers in the top-50: righthanded reliever Zach Zinicola (44th) and righthanded starter Pat Bresnehan (50th).

Two of Notre Dame’s early-season losses came at the hands of pitchers who are rated near the top of the BA list: Nebraska righthanded starter Joba Chamberlain (8th) and Arizona righthanded closer Mark Melancon (14th), who logged 4.2 innings to help edge the Irish in a 2-0, 10-inning game (UA shortstop Jason Donald is the No. 24 prospect on the list).

The only players with more noteworthy jumps in the rankings than Samardzija are a pair of RHPs who were not included on BA‘s preseason list of the top-100 prospects: Cal State Northridge’s Chris Baker (now #32) and Villanova’s Kevin Mulvey (#43). Only three others made a bigger jump that Manship’s (+34): Kent State SS Emmanuel Burris (+43; 77 to 34); ASU’s Zinicola (+41; 85 to 44) and Hawaii RHP Steven Wright (+37; 82 to 45). There are four others who improved 20-plus spots (all are RHPs): San Diego’s Josh Butler (+27; 66 to 39), Washington’s Tim Lincecum (+25; 31 to 6), Missouri State’s Brent Sinkbeil (+25; 42 to 17) and VCU’s Harold Mozingo (+20; 55 to 35).

Among the four teams that have two pitchers on the top-50 prospects list, the UNC pair owns the top combined ERA (2.62), record (14-2), innings (130.2), low opp. batting avg. (.196), low hits per 9 IP (6.41) and most Ks per 9 IP (10.33). The Missouri pitchers have the lowest walk avg. (1.56 BB/9 IP), lowest WHIP (9.27 walks and hits per 9 IP), top K/BB ratio (4.37) and fewest wild pitches (2) among the four pitcher tandems. Samardzija and Manship’s combined stats include the fewest home runs allowed (tied with the ASU pair, plus 42 more innings pitched) and fewest hit batters (4) among the four pairs of pitchers.

Manship and Samardzija rank 2nd among the four pairs of elite pitching prospects in combined wins (11-2), innings pitched (116.2), low opp. batting avg. (.234), Ks per 9 IP (7.95) and low wild pitches (6). Their other combined statistics this season, spanning nine starts each, include: a 3.01 ERA, 101 hits allowed, 103 Ks, 42 walks, a 2.45 K/BB ratio and 9-inning averages of 7.79 hits and 3.24 walks (11.03 WHIP).

Notre Dame’s junior duo will be on display during Saturday’s doubleheader at Connecticut (April 29), with Samardzija slated to start game-1 at noon and Manship following in the nightcap (both games will be nine innings).

Manship – who was the nation’s No. 3-rated freshman heading into the 2004 season before seeing the start of his college career slowed by injury – has made an impressive comeback to elite national status and is on the short list of leading candidates for BIG EAST pitcher-of-the-year honors, ranking third among the league’s regular pitchers in low opponent batting average (.200), fourth in ERA (2.25) and strikeouts (69, including a league-best 29 Ks “looking”), fifth in wins (5-1) and 11th with 60.0 innings pitched. In BIG EAST games only, Manship ranks third among the conference’s pitchers in ERA (2.83), fourth in wins (3-1) and opponent batting average (.217), seventh in strikeouts (37) and eighth with 35.0 IP.

Samardzija currently check in third on the BIG EAST charts for overall wins (6-1) and 16th in ERA (3.81) while sharing the lead for most wins during BIG EAST games (5-0).

Here’s a look at the four pitching duos on Baseball America‘s current list of the top-50 college prospects for the 2006 MLB Draft:

NOTRE DAME          ERA   W-L   APP  GS  CG SHO/CBO SV    IP   H   R  ER  BB  SO  2B  3B  HR   AB B/Avg   WP HBP
Jeff Manship..... 2.25 5-1 9 9 0 0/0 0 60.0 44 17 15 16 69 9 1 2 220 .200 2 2
Jeff Samardzija.. 3.81 6-1 9 9 0 0/0 0 56.2 57 26 24 26 34 17 1 1 211 .270 4 2
TOTALS 3.01 11-2 18 18 0 0/0 0 116.2 101 43 39 42 103 26 2 3 431 .234 6 49-Inning Averages: 7.79 H, 3.24 BB, 11.03 WHIP, 7.95 K (2.45 K/BB ratio)

NORTH CAROLINA ERA W-L APP GS CG SHO/CBO SV IP H R ER BB SO 2B 3B HR AB B/Avg WP HBP BK

Andrew Miller.... 1.56 9-0 10 10 0 0/3 0 69.1 46 21 12 20 73 2 0 1 248 .185 5 8
Daniel Bard...... 3.82 5-2 10 10 2 1/1 0 61.1 47 33 26 24 67 6 5 4 226 .208 7 11
TOTALS 2.62 14-2 20 20 2 1/4 0 130.2 93 54 38 44 150 8 5 5 474 .196 12 19
9-Inning Averages: 6.41 H, 3.03 BB, 9.44 WHIP, 10.33 K (3.41 K/BB ratio)

MISSOURI ERA W-L APP GS CG SHO/CBO SV IP H R ER BB SO 2B 3B HR AB B/Avg WP HBP

Max Scherzer... 2.67 3-1 6 6 0 0/0 0 33.2 25 10 10 10 36 2 0 2 114 .219 0 2
Nathan Culp..... 2.96 7-4 11 11 1 1/1 0 76.0 69 32 25 9 47 7 1 7 286 .241 2 3
TOTALS 2.87 10-5 17 17 0 1/1 0 109.2 94 42 35 19 83 9 1 9 400 .235 2 5 1
9-inning Averags: 7.71 H, 1.56 BB, 9.27 WHIP, 6.81 K (4.37 K/BB ratio)

ARIZONA STATE ERA W-L APP GS CG SHO/CBO SV IP H R ER BB SO 2B 3B HR AB B/Avg WP HBP

Zach Zinicola 3.31 2-1 17 1 0 0/0 6 32.2 27 15 12 15 32 6 1 1 118 .229 3 6
Pat Bresnehan ... 4.71 3-2 12 8 0 0/0 0 42.0 47 30 22 25 31 10 0 2 166 .283 7 0 0
TOTALS 4.10 5-3 29 9 0 0/0 6 74.2 74 45 34 40 63 16 1 3 284 .261 10 6
9-Inning Averages: 8.92 H, 4.82 BB, 13.74 WHIP, 7.59 K (1.58 K/BB ratio)