Carlos Marmol Up, Jeff Samardzija Down: Chicago Cubs News and Notes

The Chicago Cubs are off to a lovely start in 2010, going 5-8 through their first 13 games. Since I gave Ozzie Guillen the over/under of 20 games before his profanity-laced tirade, I am going to up the ante with Lou Piniella.

I say within the next five games, Piniella grabs Alfonso Soriano by the neck and choke slams him in the Cubs’ locker room. It will make Piniella’s fight with Rob Dibble back in the day look like a game of tiddly winks.

Let’s see what’s been going on in Wrigleyville so far.

Jeff Samardzija Is Terrible

Can someone explain to me why Jeff Samardzija is in the major leagues? He was terrible last year, and this year he is remarkably worse. I wonder: if his name was, say, Sammy Harris from Alcorn State, and not Jeff Samardzija from Notre Dame, would he be in the majors?

His ERA is 18.90 and he showed nothing special against the New York Mets on Monday night. He needs to be sent to the minors and work on his stuff.

Carlos Marmol Has Been Awesome

I will admit I am not the biggest Marmol fan in the world, but I have to give credit where credit is due. Marmol has been off the charts so far on the young season.

He has been the anti-Samardzija so far.

Marmol has struck out 13 batters in 6.2 IP. That’s 17.55 K/9 for Marmol for those of you scoring at home. As long as Marmol can control his slider, he will very tough to hit in 2010.

The Offense Is Scuffling

The Cubs rank 13th in the National League in batting average (.250), 13th in total bases (87), and 14th in runs scored (52). Nobody is really doing much offensively for the Cubs.

Aramis Ramirez does have three home runs, but is batting only .157. Soriano looks like a shell of his former self. The Cubs have a bunch of good players in their lineup, like Derrek Lee and Geovany Soto, but they don’t have a dynamic player.

They are missing a player like Ryan Braun, Justin Upton, or Evan Longoria. The Cubs need those type of players in order for their lineup to be feared. Nobody fears their lineup right now.

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