Marmol's mechanics of primary concern

Cubs manager Lou Piniella insists he'll stay with Carlos Marmol as his setup man, but Job 1 seems to be getting Marmol's mechanics straightened out.

Marmol walked three and hit a batter in Tuesday's 4-3 loss to the Phillies. He had 52 walks and 11 hit batters in 532/3 innings entering Wednesday. Last year Marmol walked 41 and hit six in 871/3 innings.

"Larry's been working with him," Piniella said, referring to pitching coach Larry Rothschild. "He's been working with him on his leg kick. I think when he goes out there, he probably tries to overthrow the ball.

"You look at his stuff, if he can just figure out a way to get it over the plate, he can have a lot of fun."

Things haven't been too fun lately for Marmol, who expressed frustration over all the walks.

"We've been working before games," he said. "That's all we can do. You can't think about mechanics in the game. If you think about mechanics, you'll be worse. I get too excited and get too quick."

When Marmol does get the ball over the plate, he's among the toughest pitchers to hit.

"He's got 53 innings pitched and only given up 30 hits," Piniella said. "But, 52 bases on balls and 11 hit batters, you get yourself in a lot of trouble. He's been able, first of all because of his competitiveness and his stuff, to work himself out of most of these situations.

"But you continue to get yourself in trouble, sooner or later, you give up runs. And he's been starting to give up runs."

After further review: The Cubs hadn't been involved in any instant-replay decisions until Monday and Tuesday, when calls went their way both times.

"How about that?" said Lou Piniella. "I like the system because they both went our way. It's a great system."

General manager Jim Hendry, who had voted against replay in the past, seems comfortable with it but doesn't seem to want it expanded to calls other than home runs.

"I thought it was part of the game for umpires to get argued with and get guys tossed every now and then," Hendry said. "I thought it was good for the game. Obviously, with the modern-day parks, I changed my opinion on the home runs and the fair and foul.

"I don't know if I'd ever want all of it. Probably, my gut feeling, would be no, even though there seemed to be a lot of bad calls on everybody.

"I guess I've still got enough old school in me that I like the purity of it. I like the way we do our sport. I like the human element. For the most part, umpires get it right."