Carlos Marmol: Chicago Cubs' Unsung Hero

Barack Obama isn’t the only one with big ears and a funny last name making things happen these days.

Carlos Marmol isn’t nearly as well known as Obama. In fact, the right-handed pitcher from the Dominican Republic isn’t very well known even amongst Major League Baseball fans.

But if you ask any batter Marmol has faced, he will probably tell you that the Cubs reliever is anything but just another bullpen benchwarmer. Marmol is easily the best reliever, and probably the most under-appreciated player, on the North Side roster.

Marmol has been a Cub since 2006, when he was brought up for 19 games, 13 of them in the starting role. He went 5-7 with and ERA of 6.08 that year, giving up 52 earned runs along the way.

Since then, Marmol has found his niche and significantly better numbers on the mound for the Cubs in the bullpen. He pitched eight fewer innings last year than he did in 2006, but other than that, his stats looked like night and day. He had a 5-1 record in relief while posting a 1.43 ERA. He gave up only three home runs and 11 earned runs in 59 appearances.

This year—knock on wood if you’re a Cubs fan—Marmol is looking as if he’s headed toward an even better year. Marmol has a 1.13 ERA and a 1-0 record over 19 games. He is on pace to appear in about 80 games this year and see roughly 100 innings. Marmol has struck out 32 batters and given up only three earned runs to this point.

At his current rate, Marmol will strike out around 130 batters, 44 more than his outcome last year and 71 more than 2006. Strikeouts though, as most pitchers will attest to, is an over-hyped statistic. What's important is keeping batters away from producing runs.

Marmol can do that too. 

Just to give an idea of how well he can keep offensive production low, he has not given up a run in nearly a month. That run was a solo shot, his only homer given up this season, against Nate McLouth in a 3-2 win over Pittsburgh on April 18. But that was 10 appearances, nearly 12 innings ago.