Results tagged ‘ Carlos Marmol ’
7/5 Extra bases
* Hopefully, Matt Garza found some Popeye’s chicken near Turner Field. That’s his favorite pre-game meal. He’ll take the mound Thursday night to close the Cubs series in Atlanta. He has held opponents to a .235 batting average. The Cubs have scored three or fewer runs while Garza has been in the game in 11 of his 15 starts, including four starts without a run scored.
* The Cubs will face Braves lefty Mike Minor . They’ll also face a lefty in two of the three games in New York against the Mets. The Cubs are 6-17 against left-handed starters this season and batting .220 against left-handed pitching, second lowest in the National League.
* Carlos Marmol is 6-for-6 in save opportunities in his last nine outings with a 1.04 ERA, giving up one earned run over 8 2/3 innings, walking five and striking out 15.
* Please note: Saturday’s game between the Cubs and Diamondbacks will start at 12:05 p.m. CT at Wrigley Field and be broadcast on WGN-TV.
* Ryan Dempster could start Sunday in the last game before the All-Star break. It will either be him or Chris Volstad. Here are the pitching matchups against the Mets:
Friday: LHP Travis Wood (3-3, 3.05) vs. LHP Johan Santana (6-4, 2.76)
Saturday: RHP Jeff Samardzija (6-7, 4.77) vs. RHP Dillon Gee (5-7, 4.34)
Sunday: TBD vs. LHP Jonathon Niese (7-3, 3.35)
– Carrie Muskat
6/19 Extra bases
* With Tuesday’s win, the Cubs have won their first Interleague series since June 15-17, 2010, against the Athletics, and first on the road since May 21-23, 2010, against Texas. They also won their first series against the White Sox since June 2008, and first at U.S. Cellular Field since June 2007.
* The Cubs now have played 24 one-run games, and they are 8-17.
* Cubs starting pitchers have a 2.84 ERA in the last nine games. The bullpen has a 1.84 ERA in the last five games. Shawn Camp, James Russell, Manuel Corpas and Carlos Marmol combined for three hitless innings.
* Marmol had his third consecutive scoreless outing, and converted his third straight save, and second since getting the closer’s job back.
* Starlin Castro is 8-for-17 in his last four games with a double, triple, home run and four RBIs.
* Randy Wells (1-1, 4.50) will close the series Wednesday against Gavin Floyd (4-7, 5.63)
– Carrie Muskat
6/15 Marmol back as closer
The Cubs needed to stabilize the bullpen and have decided Carlos Marmol is back as the closer. He made it interesting on Friday against the Red Sox. With one out, Ryan Sweeney singled, and Mike Aviles reached on an error. One out later, Marmol walked Scott Podsednik to load the bases. Sveum came out for a chat.
“It wasn’t a lot of nice things — nice words, I should say,” Sveum said of his conversation.
“He didn’t tell me good things,” Marmol said, laughing. “I appreciate what he said to me. He said, ‘Throw strikes, I don’t want to take you out of the game. Let’s go.’”
Marmol got Dustin Pedroia to hit into a force at third to end the game. It was his first save since May 2 and third of the season. Rookie Rafael Dolis had taken over the duties but struggled with his command and has been pitching at Triple-A Iowa since the end of May. Since then, James Russell and Shawn Camp have shared the workload.
“We told [Marmol] he’s done everything we’ve asked him to do and his side sessions and his work and he’s been throwing his fastball more,” Sveum said.
The problem has been fastball command, or the lack of.
“He has at least some conviction with his fastball now,” Sveum said. “It’s not, ‘I’m going to waste it and go back to my slider.’”
– Carrie Muskat
6/3 Sveum focuses on ‘pen matchups
Carlos Marmol is throwing strikes, which is what Dale Sveum wants to see. But that doesn’t mean the right-hander will automatically be back as the closer. Marmol has thrown three scoreless, hitless innings since returning from the disabled list Monday. He has struck out four in those three innings, and not walked anyone.
“That’s a good sign,” Sveum said Sunday about the lack of walks by Marmol. “The bullpen is finally shaping up a little bit, not that we have guys set in any role. To their credit, they’ve done a good job in whatever role I’ve put them in. I’ve called down there and [James] Russell gets up in the seventh or ninth or whatever.”
Marmol was 2-for-4 in save situations and had walked 18 in 11 1/3 innings before losing the job as closer and Sveum isn’t concerned about getting Marmol back into it.
“I’m not setting any goals to get anybody anywhere except to win baseball games somehow and keep the other team from scoring once their starter is out of there,” Sveum said. “The bottom line is to work the matchups as best as you possibly can to keep the other team from scoring.”
– Carrie Muskat
5/20 Marmol, Clevenger, etc. updates
Carlos Marmol and Steve Clevenger will begin rehab assignments this week at Triple-A Iowa, but neither were expected to rejoin the big league team until after next weekend. Marmol, sidelined since May 12 with a strained right hamstring, was to throw on the side Monday for Iowa, then throw a simulated game Wednesday, and, if all goes well, he’ll get into a game Friday. Clevenger, out since April 26 with a strained right oblique and rib cage injury, has been taking batting practice this weekend for the first time since he was injured. He was to play Tuesday and ease his way into game action, gradually working up to nine innings as the week progresses.
* Welington Castillo has a mild sprain of the MCL in his right knee, and was expected to miss four to seven days, depending on how he responds to treatment. He was injured on Friday on the last pitch Kerry Wood threw. Said Castillo: ”I felt like I couldn’t bend my knee or go side to side.”
* Reliever Blake Parker, who came out of Saturday’s game with a tight right hamstring, underwent an MRI on Sunday. Parker said it felt more like a cramp.
– Carrie Muskat
5/16 Injury, roster updates
Carlos Marmol was able to play catch Wednesday and catcher Steve Clevenger swung a bat for the first time since going on the disabled list. Marmol has been on the DL since May 12 with a strained right hamstring. He said it’s the first time he’s experienced that kind of injury. The good news for Marmol is that the MRI he had showed the injury wasn’t severe. Dale Sveum said the right-hander could be ready in 10 days. And Marmol?
“I should be ready to go,” Marmol said. “The way I’ve been working, I think I’ll be fine.”
* Clevenger has been sidelined since April 26 with a strained right oblique, and on Wednesday, took 15 swings off a batting tee and another 15 swings on the side. Both he and Marmol have had enough of the athletic trainer’s room.
“I’ve never really been on the DL before in my career,” Clevenger said. “I’m bored. I don’t like being in the trainer’s room.”
Clevenger is ahead of schedule and could be activated as early as May 25.
* Lendy Castillo, the Cubs’ Rule 5 pick, was placed on the disabled list with a strained left groin and lefty Scott Maine recalled from Triple-A Iowa. Castillo apparently felt something Sunday while running and it was tender on Tuesday. The addition of Maine gives the Cubs a second lefty in the bullpen.
* Blake DeWitt, who was designated for assignment on May 6, was outrighted to Triple-A Iowa. It’s up to him as to whether he accepts the assignment. He was batting .138 when designated.
– Carrie Muskat
5/12 Marmol to DL – UPDATE
The news on Carlos Marmol was encouraging Saturday. Marmol was placed on the 15-day disabled list Saturday with a strained right hamstring and Casey Coleman recalled from Triple-A Iowa.
“It was very, very minimal, nothing major,” Dale Sveum said of the MRI results after Saturday’s game. “Fifteen days and we’ll go from there. It wasn’t significant at all.”
Coleman arrived Saturday in time to pitch two innings in the Brewers’ 8-2 win over the Cubs, traveling from Fresno to Sacramento to catch a 5 a.m. flight to Denver, where he changed planes, then landed in Milwaukee. He had to carry his cleats and glove in a garbage bag because he didn’t have a carry-on bag.
Marmol was injured in the seventh inning Friday, saying he felt pain in his leg after his last pitch of the inning, which was to Corey Hart.
– Carrie Muskat
5/11 Marmol injured
Cubs reliever Carlos Marmol had to leave Friday’s game because of a strained right hamstring. His status was day to day. Marmol started the seventh inning and retired the first two batters he faced before walking Ryan Braun. Aramis Ramirez then hit a RBI double off the right field wall. Marmol was ahead in the count 1-2 to Corey Hart when catcher Welington Castillo went to the mound and signaled to the dugout for the athletic trainer. Marmol told Castillo he was OK, but assistant athletic trainer Ed Halbur and Cubs manager Dale Sveum went to the mound. After a few throws, Marmol was pulled.
– Carrie Muskat
5/9 WHIP numbers
A key statistic to gauge how pitchers are doing is WHIP, or walks plus hits per innings pitched. The lower the number the better. Here are the Cubs bullpen numbers:
Rafael Dolis 1.09
Shawn Camp 1.19
James Russell 1.32
Carlos Marmol 2.16
Kerry Wood 2.77
The Marlins Heath Bell has the highest WHIP in the Major Leagues at 2.88.
Among the Cubs starters, Ryan Dempster ranks fifth in the Major Leagues with an 0.85 WHIP and Matt Garza is eighth at 0.89.
– Carrie Muskat
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