Carlos Marmol came in yesterday’s game to slam the door on the Cubs’ shutout of the Red Sox. He managed to load the bases then get out of the jam, so he’s now back in the closer role. Dale Sveum visited him on the mound after loading the bases. I wonder what he said to Carlos?
“He didn’t tell me any nice thing,” Marmol said. “He let me (stay in). It was nice, and I appreciate it. He said to just throw strikes, ‘I don’t want to take you out of the game, let’s go.’”
Does Sveum have any good reason for throwing Marmol back into the lion’s den?
“We made a conscious effort a couple days ago (to let Marmol close) because the way things had been going to solidify the bullpen,” Sveum said.
(snip)
“(Marmol’s use of his slider) wasn’t as bad as we’ve seen in the past,” Sveum said. “At least he has some conviction with his fastball now when he throws it, not like I am going to waste it and go back to my slider.”
That must be what Dale said when he visited the mound. “Throw your fastball with conviction!”The Cubs will seek to further their 2012 domination of the AL East today at 6:15 PM Central. Jon Lester (3-4, 4.57) will start for the Red Sox against Jeff Samardzija (5-4, 3.96) for the Cubs. You’ll be able to watch the game on Fox, provided they don’t choose some other regional game you wouldn’t be interested in.
“(Marmol’s use of his slider) wasn’t as bad as we’ve seen in the past.”
WOW, damning with faint praise, anyone??
That’s like saying, “that wasn’t the worst movie I’ve ever seen.”
I can’t believe how I misread the box yesterday and actually believed Marmol didn’t walk anyone. Hadn’t had a beer then yet.That would’ve been a storyline if the bases-loaded situation had exploded.
One tidbit I want to throw out for chewing and digesting: The last time a Chicago team was gutted and started basically from scratch, it took over a decade for them to even resemble a possible shot at contending(Da Bulls after Jordan’s 2nd retirement). And it’s easier to build a basketball team then it is a baseball team.Baseball is such a more difficult and enigmatic game, especially at the highest professional level. Just some food for thought.
Im a Cub fan and mentally and spiritually I will wait but to be physically alive when it might happen will be…well, maybe that’s what will keep me alive and healthy.GO CUBS!!!
So if you’re suggesting that gutting the major league team and rebuilding a productive minor league system is a waste of time, how do you fix the problems facing the Cubs?
Free agency? You end up overpaying for guys like Soriano or getting head cases like Milton Bradley. Free agency is where you pick up spare parts and shore up your bullpen. Occasionally you take a chance and sign a guy who would be an upgrade for your team if they recover from their surgery, but you end up overpaying for these guys in the long run.
Trades? Trades require you either have prospects or good players with reasonable contracts. The Cubs have a surplus of neither. Our trades are saying “we’ll pay for your team to be better now if you’ll give us prospects.”
This leaves player development. It’s the process that lets us play guys we draft/sign and develop, while still giving us chips to go after small market superstars when those moves make sense. The neglect in player development in the later Tribune/Zell era is exactly why this rebuilding process is needed.
To compare this situation to the Bulls isn’t really fair because college ball is the real minor leagues equivalent for the NBA. It’s not like the Bulls spent years trading off their minor league shooting guards because Jordan had them blocked at the NBA level.
Gutting and rebuilding is not a ‘waste’ of time, it takes a longer time. And if there is a career that is always a ?, it is a baseball players. Especially a new and young player.
The Bulls had a good nucleus of players after Jordan retired and bringing in a young possibly talented guard would have gone much better for the team and the fans the next 10+ years.They were old but all could still play.
When Theo took over in Boston he had a team that had won more than 90 gms. A couple of good signing of free agents that had good years workrd out well for him. And when they won the next title I remember what a veteran team they looked like. Playing against Colorado it looked like men against boys.
Colorado with all the hype they came in as a young and upcoming team then, where are they?
Soriano’s and Bradley’s contract are poor examples of what can happen. And to imply that is ALL that can happen is ludicrous.
That last sentence I don’t get but whatever.
But you’re right you take chances. I would prefer that the whole team is not a chance.
And this topic can be argued until ‘the Cubs win a World Series’.It was just a tidbit, a scrap, a piece of fat to chew on.
Just please don’t say “Look at the Bulls now!”.That means I really have a while to wait
Does anyone have a source for minor league splits?
I’d be real interested in LaHair’s stats last year against lefties.
No splits but it’s a start…
http://www.milb.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?sid=milb&t=p_pbp&pid=445933
Anyone want to win rooftop tickets?
https://www.facebook.com/GinosEast/app_428728283809649
Gino’s East is giving away dinner AND four rooftop tickets.
Lineup:
Johnson RF, Barney 2B, Castro SS, Soriano LF, Baker 1B, Mather CF, Castillo C, Valbuena 3B, Samardzija P
Beef Castle did a good job tagging Ortiz. It would be nice if the cubs would score a few runs now…
Um . . did anyone else hear Joe Buck take the side of Cubs fans against the front office? Or was it just me? Trying to determine if I’m actually awake or not.
I heard that, and at first thought he was criticizing the fans, for wanting “fun”.
The radar says there is rain in Naperville, but there is no rain in Naperville.
Spellcheck gives up 2 runs, and it will be too late, if the rain does come,since it’s already the 4th…
Samardzija is a really unhealthy-looking color of red.
That leads to a question I have always wanted to ask:why on earth does no one wear sunscreen? I thinks spellcheck’s face is red due tu sunburn/windburn. Even the Yankees apparently do not use sunscreen …..
Fox just announced they will go from the cubs game to the Baltimore game, if there continues to be no hits….
And Soriano reminds everyone what a jerk he can be…
what happened?
He stood there and did nor run out a possible hit again…
And what did Buck have to say about that?
He called out Soriano and noted how the crowd booed him the rest of the game…
Come on LaMullet!!!
Happy Father’s Day! Or is it Fathers’ Day?
I have three sons, no daughters. One is working, one is playing somewhere and one is sleeping. Hooray?