Giants bring Jeff Samardzija back to face Padres in the midst of a playoff race

Samardzija has made only three starts this season and his contract is set to expire at the end of the year.

SAN FRANCISCO — In the last days of a five-year, $90 million contract he signed in December, 2015, veteran starter Jeff Samardzija wondered if he had already thrown his last pitch for the San Francisco Giants.

The right-hander hasn’t appeared in a game since giving up six runs in four innings against the Los Angeles Dodgers on August 7 and has spent the last seven weeks attempting to prove he’s healthy enough to make an impact in the playoff race.

With the season on the line, manager Gabe Kapler announced Samardzija will start Game 2 of a pivotal doubleheader against the San Diego Padres on Friday.

“One of the things that I respect most about (Samardzija) is how much he wants the baseball,” Kapler said. “This is an opportunity he has been pushing for, asking for, was very excited to get. He wants the ball in the biggest moments, he’s happy to put a team on his shoulders and he’s capable of putting a team on his shoulders.”

The Giants placed Samardzija on the 10-day injured list with right shoulder inflammation on August 8, but there were no guarantees he would return to the roster this season as he posted a 9.88 ERA in three starts and had watched his fastball velocity dip below 90 miles per hour.

Samardzija has likely been healthy enough to rejoin the Giants’ rotation for at least the last two weeks, but his status remained in limbo entering Thursday’s game against the Colorado Rockies. After the Giants lost a crushing 5-4, 11-inning game in which Kapler needed to extend several of his top relievers, the club determined a Samardzija start was a gamble it had to take to keep its playoff hopes alive on Friday.

With left-hander Tyler Anderson set to start Game 1 against San Diego, the Giants named Samardzija their 29th man for the doubleheader and will count on him to provide as much length as possible in Game 2 against Padres right-hander and fringe Cy Young candidate Dinelson Lamet.

Kapler said Samardzija is built up to throw five-plus innings and given the lack of relievers expected to be available on Friday, it would be no surprise if the Giants left Samardzija in Friday’s game even if he struggles.

When general manager Bobby Evans signed Samardzija and right-hander Johnny Cueto following a 2015 season in which the club missed the postseason, the Giants had visions of keeping their championship window open for the remainder of the decade.

The Giants made the playoffs in 2016, but Samardzija’s one and only postseason start with the franchise didn’t go as planned. He gave up six hits and four runs in just two innings in Game 2 of the NLDS against the Chicago Cubs in a game the Giants lost 5-2.

In the four years since Samardzija’s playoff start, the Giants have been non-competitive and the veteran has missed the majority of two seasons –2018 and 2020– with shoulder issues. On Friday, he’ll have an opportunity at redemption as the Giants begin the day in control of their own playoff destiny.

At 28-28, the club is currently clinging to the second wild card spot in the National League, but the postseason picture is expected to change on Friday as the Giants and another wild card contender, the Brewers, each play a doubleheader while two other playoff hopefuls, the Phillies and Reds, both open three-game series.

The idea of Samardzija returning from the Sacramento alternate site to lead the Giants to a crucial win seems far-fetched, but at this point in the schedule, the club has no other options. The veteran right-hander was signed to give the Giants a boost in big games, and for the first time in four years, Samardzija will have an opportunity against the Padres.

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