After being yanked from his first save chance of the season Cubs closer Carlos Marmol escaped another mess with a save yesterday, but it wasn’t pretty as he allowed three hits and one walk before Neil Walker did him a huge favor by grounding into a game-ending double play.
Despite the back-to-back ugly outings manager Dale Sveum reiterated that he’s sticking with Marmol as closer, telling Jesse Rogers of ESPN Chicago: “I’m not doing anything. We’re 2-1. Everyone is in the same roles heading into Atlanta.”
It’s worth noting that Marmol went through multiple rough patches last season and had an ERA as high as 5.61 in mid-July, but then finished the year with a 1.52 ERA and 39 strikeouts in his final 30 innings. What makes Marmol so maddening to watch is that he’s capable of dominant stretches, but with Kyuji Fujikawa looming as an obvious replacement it’s hard to imagine Sveum having a ton of patience.
