Did Jeff Samardzija dump his girlfriend to become a big league pitcher or didn’t he? In an interview with writer Joe Posnanski, Theo Epstein says Samardzija met with Dale Sveum the day he was hired as Cubs manager, and talked about his complete commitment to baseball. According to Epstein, Samardzija said: “I just want you to know one thing about me. I will do whatever it takes to help the team. And I think the best way to help this team is by being a starting pitcher. I’m eliminating everything in my life that gets in the way. I’m dumping my girlfriend. I’m moving to Arizona. I just want the chance to show you that I’m a starting pitcher.”

On Friday, Samardzija said that he did meet with Sveum on the day he was hired in November 2011, and yes, he did dump his girlfriend.

“In previous years I didn’t feel like I had done everything I could,” Samardzija said Friday about baseball. “I thought I worked hard in the offseason and did a lot of things but especially in midseason I didn’t feel I was putting myself where I needed to be to be the best I could be. I worked hard that offsesaon and when I met, I told [Sveum], I had no distractions in my life, and this game can be a lot about just minimizing distractions from the outside. The older you get, the most you realize that.

“I wanted to level with him that I didn’t have any distractions and the only thing on my mind was making the rotation and pitching 30, 32 starts,” Samardzija said. “The best way I could describe it was by saying I didn’t have a girlfriend.”

So he dumped her?

“Hey, that’s fine — I dumped my girlfriend,” Samardzija said. “That sounds like a better story.”

It’s also true. He did break up with her, but it was about six, seven months before Samardzija met with Sveum.

“Like I said, I wanted to let [Sveum] know and let the staff know I was all in with this team and I wasn’t going to have any distractions on the outside and I was commited to being the guy they needed me to be for this team,” Samardzija said.

– Carrie Muskat

After an off day Wednesday, the Cubs will play their final split squad games on Thursday. Half of the team will go to Tucson to face the Dodgers at Kino Stadium in a fundraiser for the Christina-Taylor Green Memorial Foundation. Green was one of six people killed in a shooting Jan. 8, 2011, in Tucson at an event to benefit Gabrielle Giffords. Green was 9 years old at the time. She is the granddaughter of former Cubs executive Dallas Green. In Peoria, Jeff Samardzija, the Cubs’ Opening Day starter, will start against the Mariners Thursday night. Here are the lineups:

Cubs vs. Dodgers, Tucson
Barney 2B
Castro SS
Rizzo 1B
Hairston LF
Sappelt CF
Castillo C
Lillibridge 3B
Bogusevic RF
Feldman P

Cubs vs. Mariners, Peoria
DeJesus CF
Valbuena 3B
Schierholtz RF
Soriano LF
Navarro C
Baez SS
Nelson 1B
Gonzalez 2B
Samardzija P

– Carrie Muskat

Jeff Samardzija threw five shutout innings, Scott Hairston hit a solo home run and Darwin Barney, Dioner Navarro and Brian Bogusevic each hit RBI singles to lift the Cubs to a 5-1 victory Saturday over the Rangers in Las Vegas. Samardzija struck out three and walked one, scattering three hits. It was an interesting game for Steve Clevenger, who started at first, then switched to third base as the Cubs try to determine if he’ll be a fit as a left-handed bat on the bench. Clevenger handled both spots.

On Sunday, the two teams meet again at Cashman Field with Carlos Villanueva starting for Chicago.

– Carrie Muskat

Jeff Samardzija says he hasn’t talked to the Cubs about a new deal, and was surprised by a report that he and the Cubs were “far apart” in terms of a contract.

“Everything’s been the same from what I understand,” Samardzija said Saturday after throwing five shutout innings against the Rangers. “I haven’t heard anything since camp started and even before that, before the [Cubs] Convention [in January].”

Samardzija’s agent was in Arizona to watch the right-hander pitch in a “B” game March 6.

“We were under the assumption that in the offseason, we’d talk, nothing serious, we were just going to discuss things, but once Spring Training got going, they had things they needed to do and I needed to get ready for the year,” Samardzija said. “There really hasn’t been any talks.”

Samardzija signed for $2.64 million, and will be a free agent after the 2015 season. There was a report that the Cubs offered Samardzija more than the $30 million, five-year deal the Rangers gave Derek Holland last spring. Holland, 26, is entering his fifth season as a starting pitcher. This will be Samardzija’s second. Last season, he was 9-13 with a 3.81 ERA (including a 2.58 ERA in 11 starts after the All-Star break).

– Carrie Muskat

In Jeff Samardzija’s previous outing last Wednesday, he was on a backfield in Surprise, facing Rangers Minor Leaguers in a “B” game that started at 10 a.m. On Monday, the Cubs right-hander was starting in front of a sellout crowd of 12,436 at Salt River Fields at Talking Stick. The results were better against the Diamondbacks.

“when you’re in that environment of no anxiety and no pressure, it allows you to be a little more free on the mound of what you want to do,” Samardzija said of the “B” game. “Although the results might not be what you want, if you can look back on your outing and say there are a couple things that you did better than the time before, that’s what it’s all about.”

He could definitely say that against the Diamondbacks. Samardzija, the Cubs’ Opening Day starter, did give up four runs on four hits, including two home runs, and two walks over 4 2/3 innings. He also helped himself by hitting a solo home run in the fifth.

“Close your eyes and you run into things sometimes,” he said of his home run.

He’s still working on getting his offspeed pitches down in the zone, but said Monday was his best outing.

“I really thought today was a big turn for me, just how I felt,” he said. “If I missed, I didn’t miss by much. The adjustments I need to make are pretty simple.”

He has about three starts remaining this spring to tune up for his April 1 start against the Pirates, including a start this weekend against the Rangers, who he could see in April in Interleague play. Samardzija will keep working on his pitches, but don’t expect him to reveal everything.

“You don’t want to show them everything in Spring Training,” he said.

– Carrie Muskat

The Cubs travel to Scottsdale on Monday to face the Diamondbacks. Jeff Samardzija will start. The game will be broadcast on Cubs.com with Len Kasper and Mick Gillespie doing the broadcast. Here’s the lineup:

DeJesus CF
Barney 2B
Schierholtz RF
Soriano LF
Valbuena 3B
Castillo C
Baez SS
Clevenger 1B
Samardzija P

– Carrie Muskat