You know about the Three True Outcomes, right?
Cubs’ Carlos Mármol On Shaky Ground As Closer
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Dave Kingman and Fiore Gino Tennaci were TTO hitters. Today, Carlos Peña and Adam Dunn are.
Well, Carlos Mármol is a TTO pitcher, except the first T stands for Two instead of Three. Since Opening Day 2009, Mármol has given up only five home runs in 194 innings.
The other two T’s, though? He’s got them covered. Over the same span, Mármol’s 6.6 walks per nine innings is the highest in the majors (among pitchers with at least 150 innings). His 13.2 strikeouts per nine innings is also the highest in the majors. In neither category is anyone particularly close to Mármol.
There is only one Mármol.
Usually, Mármol the One is good enough. You love the strikeouts and you hate the walks, but his ability to keep the baseball in the baseball stadium keeps the walks from hurting too much.
Usually.
On the last day of May, Mármol gave up just one walk, but also a string of hits that included a home run, his ERA jacking from 1.17 to 3.47 in one terrible inning.
Until Thursday night at Wrigley Field, that seemed just a blip. In his first 12 outings after the May 31 meltdown, Mármol posted a 1.45 ERA in 19 innings, striking out 22 and walking nine and allowing a home run. Mármol the One.
Until Thursday night’s meltdown, which makes two this season. One hit. Four walks. No outs at all. And that’s how Mármol the One blew a save for the seventh time this season. Which is a lot, considering it’s still July.
Still, he bounced back nicely the next time. There was some talk about Sean Marshall getting the nod, the next time there was a ninth-inning lead to protect. But when Ryan Dempster threw eight shutout innings to give the Cubs a 2-0 lead, it was Mármol who trotted in from the bullpen in the ninth. It was also Mármol who trudged off the mound moment later, having given up a run and left the tying runner on base (it might have been worse, but Hanley Ramírez was caught trying to stretch a long single into a double).
Now, Mármol didn’t pitch poorly; manager Mike Quade didn’t give him the chance. After four batters -- walk, pop-up, single, single -- Quade lifted Mármol for Márshall, who struck out Mike Stanton to end the game and earn his fourth career save.
Afterward, Quade blamed Mármol’s struggles on “mechanical issues” but suggested such things are normal, and noted that Mármol’s been a good pitcher for a long time.
All true, to a point. But the best closers don’t usually suffer meltdowns like Mármol’s more than once or twice per season, at most. And he hasn’t been a good pitcher for that long, really. I say the jury’s still out on Mármol the One. He’s good at what he does. But I’m not sure what he does will be good enough for much longer, if he doesn’t learn to control the strike zone.
For more on Marmol and the Cubs, please visit Bleed Cubbie Blue.
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