Cubs’ fans, for the most part, have been conditioned to look at the negative before the positive. So a majority of the focus on Tuesday was how bad Carlos Marmol was on Opening Day. Not the outstanding performance from Jeff Samardzija or the solid efforts turned in by Starlin Castro and Anthony Rizzo at the plate and in the field. Plus, there was little or no mention of Nate Schierholtz reaching base in all four plate appearances.
Carlos Marmol has struggled with his command for the last two seasons. Marmol has not been the same pitcher he was since 2010 and the Cubs are caught between a rock and a no trade clause.
On one hand there is a manger who is trying to win ballgames. On the other, there is a front office that is trying to trade a closer while attempting to maximize their return for a pitcher with little to no value. Dale Sveum has to publicly say that Carlos Marmol is the Cubs’ closer while hoping he can throw enough strikes that the front office can find a team willing to take him for the season while the Cubs pay the freight.
Sveum doesn’t sound like he is going to let games slip away like they did early on last season. Monday he had a fully rested bullpen and a starter that went eight innings that helped give him options after Marmol. So as Sveum tries to put his team in the best position to win the game, how he uses his pen prior to the ninth inning will be interesting to monitor as they try to get Carlos Marmol on track.
News Bits
The Cubs know the importance of starting the year strong according to a report from Cubs.com.
The Sun-Times reported Edwin Jackson is a sign of the Cubs’ times.
According to the Sun-Times, if the Cubs beat the Pirates on Wednesday night it would mark the first time the team has been two games above .500 under the Ricketts family ownership. The Cubs have been one game over .500 three times since the family bought the team.
Bruce Miles wondered how Carlos Zambrano would have handled the first inning of Monday’s game.
Dale Sveum is going to manage the Cubs his way according to Comcast SportsNet. Sveum does not care about his image or second-guessing and according to James Russell, Sveum stays pretty flat. He does not get too high and he does not get too low.
The Tribune reported “most believe” Carlos Marmol will be gone by the end of July
The Cubs signed OF Ryan Sweeney to a minor league contract on Tuesday. Sweeney will report to Triple-A Iowa this weekend.