Re-posted from the "1 Month" thread:

I have that "Life Stories" book from the New Yorker that includes the excellent piece on Steve Blass. I finally got around to reading it the other night.

I wonder what type of command Marmol has when he's warming up. Blass never really lost his stuff. He could still find his spots while warming up. But you put a batter in the box, even if it was just a teammate, and the wheels came off.

One of the problems for Marmol is that his command of the fastball has never been too great. It's always been about that slider. And when he was still relatively new to the bigs, he could get away with missing by a lot with the slider, because hitters were still flailing away due to its movement. But now, the command of the slider has weakened a bit, hitters are more patient with him, and when he gets into fastball counts (which is often), he can't spot that straight ball worth a damn.

It's unfortunate to see it unravel like this, because Marmol was once one of the most exciting aspects of the Cubs. It seems like a lifetime ago that Sweet Lou would stroll out to the mound and bring in Marmol to clean up another pitcher's mess, because he was the arm in the pen most capable of missing bats with absurd ease.

I kind of subscribe to the notion that it's nice to have a lights-out closer you can depend on year after year, but it's not impossible to find pieces off of the scrap heap to fill the role (like Tampa Bay has done). So in that sense, this isn't DEVASTATING for the Cubs. It's just a sad story to watch unfold.

One of the problems for Marmol is that his command of the fastball has never been too great.

And this is why it's not really a Steve Blass situation. Marmol's command has never been good. His last few years have been a mix of walking too many batters and walking a godawful number of batters. For the most part, however, he has had such great stuff that he could overcome it.

I think the problem is that his stuff has declined, and he remains lacking in command.

To clarify ... I brought up Steve Blass in the other thread just as an example of someone who was famous for his inability to throw strikes. I didn't mean that his and Marmol's circumstances were similar otherwise.

Marmol's problem is his refusal to throw fastballs. Why swing at the slider when he can't get it over?

It's what he's always done Steve. Even in his unhittable years he'd still be throwing that slider on 3-0 counts.

It's what he's always done Steve. Even in his unhittable years he'd still be throwing that slider on 3-0 counts.

But once the rest of the league began to understand that, he has refused to make adjustments. Which either is a damning indictment of him or the Cubs pitching coaches.