Come To Think of It: Sean Marshall's Junk Is Another Cardinals Treasure

Chicago Cubs lefty Sean Marshall is the very definition of a "junk-baller." If you looked up the term in a baseball book, you'd see his picture alongside Jamie Moyer.

The thing is, Moyer has proven you can win throwing junk. But in watching Marshall's performance in Thursday's 7-4 loss to the St. Louis Cardinals, it appeared that he was too reliant on that big breaking ball of his.

True, his curveball was outstanding at times. But what I would like to see Sean do is to throw the fastball more often.

I know, the velocity on his fastball barely ever tops the upper 80s. But for a hitter, timing is everything. And when they see 73 mph junk consistently, that 88 mph fastball looks a heck of a lot faster in comparison.

That's especially true if he locates that fastball properly. I'm not advocating throwing it right down main street. But a high fastball may look tantalizing to a batter who has been swinging at breaking balls all day.

Now, I'm, not saying that Marshall pitched awfully. No, in fact, his line of three runs, six hits, two walks and four strikeouts in five innings wasn't that bad.

I just think he is capable of being better than that. In time, I hope he will learn how to use that curveball to his advantage.

And it would be nice if he could have helped himself when attempting to bunt in the bottom of the fifth.

The Cubs were caught short-handed in that fifth inning, by the way. I'm sure Lou would have pinch-hit for Marshall in that situation if he had the horses. After all, Marshall was up over 90 pitches at that point in his first start of the season.

As it turned out, the Kosuke Fukudome homer temporarily gave the Cubs a 4-3 lead, which Aaron Heilman promptly gave right back to the Red Birds in the top of the sixth. He gave up a homer to the offensively-challenged Khalil Greene.

The Cubs blew a golden opportunity in their half of the sixth. Men on second and third with one out, two Cardinal errors, yet they didn't score.

Pinch-hitting Milton Bradley was ejected for arguing a called third strike in the inning. Hey, it's only mid-April and already he has had a minor injury and a minor meltdown. He also has a minor batting average at .056.

The useless Neal Cotts allowed the Cards to once again regain the lead in the seventh. Two runs scored and both were charged to David Patton.

Can someone remind me why Jim Hendry didn't acquire a dependable lefty in the offseason? There were several available, and rather cheaply, I might add.

The equally useless Angel Guzman contributed to the damage in the eighth after the Cubs failed to take advantage of the third Cardinals error.

And that was about all she wrote.

Zambrano takes the mound on Friday for the Cubbies. A new day, new results, come to think of it.