Marmol putting up special numbers
If there's anyone in baseball who's capable of making the reliever-to-starter transition alongside the New York Yankees' Joba Chamberlain, it's Carlos Marmol.
Both spent their minor-league years as starters before landing in the bullpen upon their arrival in the bigs.
Both boast overpowering stuff that results in more strikeouts than baserunners.
Alas, there's a zero percent chance the 25-year-old Marmol will follow Chamberlain's lead -- at least as long as Lou Piniella runs the Cubs.
"If I would switch someone like Marmol," Piniella said, "I think I'd just go home, sit in the sun and enjoy the ocean breezes down in Florida."
It's easy to understand why Piniella refuses to give up his setup crutch in the bullpen.
You merely needed to witness Marmol's dominant eighth-inning performance Friday that helped preserve the Cubs' 10-9 victory over Colorado.
Pinch hitter Scott Podsednik took Marmol's first pitch for a ball, then went down looking at a slider.
Pinch hitter Seth Smith watched three strikes go past, including the slider that sent him to the dugout.
Jonathan Herrera fouled off two fastballs, then went down looking at yet another slider.
Ten pitches. Nine strikes. Nothing close to a fair ball.
"That's what I wanted," Marmol said with a smile.
"He had that breaking ball breaking off the side of a cliff," Piniella said.
"He's been dominant all year," said Mark DeRosa, who had a rocking-chair view from third base Friday. "I don't think people realize -- I mean, we do, the people in Chicago do -- how good this kid is."
Maybe people should take a look at the stats. Going into Friday's night games, Marmol is the only guy who ranks among the majors' top four relievers in innings (35.0), strikeouts (52) and WHIP (0.74).
No wonder Piniella has called on Marmol in 28 of the Cubs' 55 games. If he maintains the same usage pattern during the final two-thirds of the year, Marmol will throw 103 innings and rack up 156 strikeouts.
When put into perspective, those are astonishing totals for this or any era.
During the previous four seasons, only two pitchers working exclusively as relievers have thrown more than 100 innings in a single year. The Angels' Scot Shields tossed 105.3 innings in 2004, and the Yankees' Scott Proctor went 102.3 in 2006.
More remarkably, only two relievers have amassed more than 107 strikeouts in the last four years. The Angels' Francisco Rodriguez posted 123 in 2004, 1 more than Toronto's B.J. Ryan.
So while it was no surprise to see Marmol with his customary hulking ice packs strapped to his right shoulder and elbow following Friday's game, he says everything's cool.
"I feel great," Marmol said.
Though middle relievers aren't usually invited to pitch in the All-Star Game, Marmol seems like a no-brainer to get a nod.
"There's still, like, four weeks or three weeks or whatever, so I don't know," he said. "I want to be there."
Sweet relief
By any statistical metric, Carlos Marmol ranks among the majors' finest relievers. The numbers going into Friday's night games:
Innings
Franquelis Osoria, Pit 39.0
Marmol, Cubs 35.0
Joel Hanrahan, Wash 34.0
J.P. Howell, TB 33.7
Strikeouts
Marmol, Cubs 52
Hanrahan, Wash 41
Octavio Dotel, WSox 36
Jose Valverde, Hou 33
Hits and walks/innings
(minimum 10 IP)
Mariano Rivera, NYY 0.52
Joakim Soria, KC 0.56
Troy Percival, TB 0.66
Marmol, Cubs 0.74