Unflappable Marshall ready as Cubs' fifth starter

MESA, Ariz. - Sean Marshall wasn't on the trip with the Cubs Thursday when manager Lou Piniella named him the team's fifth starting pitcher.

So Piniella wasn't able to deliver the good news to Marshall. But Marshall was able to find out in a 2009 kind of way.

"I found out last night," he said Friday. "Somebody texted me. They were like, 'Congratulations.' I said, 'What did I do?' 'You made the rotation.' I was like, 'That's cool.'

"It was good to hear that. I can get back on a good track and work out between starts, knowing that I'm going to pitch every five days. Hopefully, we can take the ball and run and keep pitching well."

The 26-year-old Marshall beat out a field that included Aaron Heilman, Jeff Samardzija and Chad Gaudin.

The way Marshall sees it, he's hardly arrived.

"So far, so good," he said. "It's still spring training. It's not like I've done anything during the season. I know there's room for me to improve. I'm just going to take the opportunity and make the best of it."

It's not exactly as if Marshall is a stranger to the starting rotation. He made 24 starts as a rookie in 2006, going 6-9 with a 5.59 ERA. He spent time in the minor leagues in each of his first three seasons as a Cub, including last year, when he opened at Iowa.

With the Cubs, he went 3-5 with a 3.86 ERA in 34 games, 7 starts. What impressed the brass was that Marshall never complained about his role, whether it was to pitch out of the bullpen or go back to Iowa.

"You guys probably know my attitude," he said. "You talk with me a lot and realize that I'm a go-with-the-flow guy. You shouldn't get too upset about one thing. It really is a game, a fun game, I'm playing, and we're very fortunate to be professional baseball players and to have the opportunity that we have to be in the spotlight and to play a game for a living and have a lot of fun doing."

That doesn't mean Marshall wasn't out to help himself this winter. He got an earlier-than-usual start on things and came to camp as the announced favorite to win the job.

"I started my throwing program a little bit earlier than the last three or four years," he said. "I felt like I came into camp anxious and ready to face hitters without throwing a lot of bullpens. The guys that I was throwing with and some of the guys I was playing catch with were like, 'You're ready to go. You're game ready.' I'm like, 'Well, it's only Jan. 20 or something like that.' I'm excited to take this opportunity."

It's possible the Cubs will skip Marshall's first turn through the rotation, in part because of an off-day during the first week and in part because they want to throw all right-handed pitchers at the Milwaukee Brewers in the second series of the season.

True to form, Marshall seemed OK with that.

"I don't know what's going to happen," he said. "I'm sure I'll find out what the plan is here the next couple days. I did some long relief last year. If they need me to piggyback with one of the other starters at the beginning of the season or do whatever, I'll be glad to help out.

"I'm not going to get satisfied. I'm never going to get satisfied. I'm always going to keep improving on each start and each day and keep getting bigger and stronger and learning more. And I want to be one of the best pitchers on the staff."

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