Cubs will discuss whether to shut down RHP Jeff Samardzija for the season

Stephen Strasburg isn't the only young righthander whose season could come to a premature close. Chicago Cubs manager Dale Sveum said on Tuesday that the organization would discuss what to do with Jeff Samardzija when the team returns home from its current 10-day road trip.

"We have to sit down with the whole organization and evaluate that decision and see where we want to be," Sveum said, according to Mike Fiammetta of MLB.com. "That would obviously be a lot more innings than he's ever pitched. But the strength level is obviously there right now, so it's something that we really got to evaluate."

In his first season as a starter, Samardzija, 27, has pitched 165 2/3 innings. The Cubs had said that they expected Samarzija to pitch about 180 innings in his first season as a starter; he made just five starts in 128 big-league games prior to 2012.