What’s Wrong With Carlos Marmol?

Carlos Marmol has blown two straight ballgames for the Chicago Cubs and seems pretty ineffective.  Over these past two games Marmol has given up 6 earned, walked 5 and gotten 2 out.  We know that closers can be volatile especially ones like Carlos Marmol who at times struggles with release point and arm slot.  However, Marmol’s blown 7 saves already this year after blowing just 5 a year ago.  I want to offer up a few suggestions about what’s wrong with Marmol:

1)  He was never that good.  Yeah, he strikes people out at an impressive rate.  Career 11.6 K/9 is great but couple that with a 5.9 BB/9 rate and you get some messy innings.  Marmol’s career WHIP of 1.27 again suggests that he plays with fire a bit too much.  Though Pyro, which is an awesome nickname for Marmol given his mo-hawk and pension for fiery explosions in the dugout, strikes out more than his fair share, he lets people on entirely too much and provided some of the reason Lou Piniella felt the need to retire mid season last year. Heartburn.

2) Pitch Problems.  Pyro’s pitches are significantly worse than in previous years.  According to PitchFx data from Fangraphs his average fastball velocity is down almost 3 miles per hour (From 94 to 91) from last year and has less movement than in any previous year. Remember the hubbub when Phil Hughes was down a couple miles of hour?  Should the same be said for Marmol?  Additionally, what has made Pyro effective in years past is his slider.  This year the pitch is moving well horizontally but lacks the vertical break.

3) Pitch Selection.  Marmol has relied heavily on his slider this year throwing it about 56% of the time and at one point this afternoon threw it 11 straight times to .  He’s also throwing his fastball less, down to 38%.  And he’s completely abandoned a cutter that he threw 20% of the time as a rookie.

It’s all pretty simple.  Marmol’s margin for error was always very slim.  If you’ve ever seem one of his innings you know how he takes your breath away. But now, with less spectacular stuff, Pyro is giving up a few extra hits which, with his volatile style, leads to a few more blowups.  I’m sorry Cubs fans.

A Separate Note:   As I was watching the Cubs game this afternoon I realized how well Aramis Ramirez (and his 300 career homers) might fit with a contender.  He’s a veteran, one year rental and over the past two weeks has been the best third baseman in the game.  He’s got 15 homers (3rd among MLB third baseman), is hitting .298 (2nd) and due about 7 million over the rest of the season and a $16 million option for 2012.  The Angels, and Giants may have a need.  I’m not sure how committed the Giants are to Miguel Tejada but his .599 OPS is second to last among qualifying third baseman not names Chone Figgins.  The Pirates also pop up as an interesting team.  Aramis could serve as a quality veteran for the young club in Pittsburgh.  Other teams with possible needs at third:  Cardinals, White Sox, Tigers, or Indians.  I don’t see Aramis generating a major return but, the Cubs proved last year with their trade of Derrek Lee that they’re not opposed to trading veterans on the edge of free agency.

Stat of the day: Buster Olney tweeted today that the Roger Clemens prosecution cost upwards of $10 million.  Its unbelievable!  The government spent 10 million taxpayer dollars to present a case before federal court only to have a prosecutor mess up?  Unbelievable.

-Sean Morash