Carlos Marmol Will Probably Hit the Disabled List Today and Other Bullets

I didn’t drink a drop last night, but I feel hungover as hell.

  • You’re never going to get “good” quotes after a game like that, and last night was no excuse. “That was a great game. Obviously, we finished on the bad end of it but it was one heck of a game to watch,” Cubs manager Dale Sveum said. “We both emptied the benches, and that was pretty much the way it was going to end.” Shrug. What else is anyone going to say? There’s the usual rah-rah stuff from the players in that article as well.
  • Carlos Marmol, after stinking up the joint last night, pulled his hamstring and was removed from the game. He’s headed back to Chicago for an MRI today, and will probably head to the DL. The close distance between Chicago and Milwaukee would have allowed Marmol to return for the game if he felt well enough, but the fact that the bullpen was completely used up last night probably decided the matter for the Cubs. DL’ing Marmol would allow the Cubs to call up some relief in the pen – probably lefty Scott Maine. Interesting – a Cubs player is headed to the disabled list with an injury, and I put it in the Bullets and not a God’s Wrath Watch. Can’t figure why. Must just be tired…
  • Last night, Welington Castillo demonstrated one of the sometimes inarticulable criticisms lodged against him as a future starter: he doesn’t really catch a good game. He wasn’t giving pitchers a nice target, he doesn’t frame well (when he tries at all), and he often catches the ball awkwardly (in fact, sometimes he does the opposite of a frame, making strikes look like balls). If you didn’t see the game, you’re wondering what the heck I’m talking about. See? Inarticulable. But, it was obvious, and he’s got work to do.
  • Jon Heyman says the Cubs are likely to try and extend Matt Garza before trying to trade him, which is something we’ve expected for months. Heyman suggests a five-year, $80 million deal, which would have sounded high-ish just a few months ago, but now sounds like a steal (in light of the way the CBA changes are playing out, and the amounts guys are getting on extensions).
  • James Russell, who’s been the Cubs’ best reliever this year, who was terrible as a starter last year but dominant as a reliever, says he’d rather be starting. What the what? “I’m still not over the whole starting thing quite yet, I don’t think,” Russell said. “It’s really pretty much up to them. Whatever they want me to do is what I want to do. But just, in the back of my mind, I think I can succeed at starting and do well and help our team out starting. If they think otherwise then that’s perfectly fine with me …. I’ll let them decide. I’m not going to say anything. Just keep my mouth shut and go about my business in the bullpen and whatever they want to do in the offseason or next year, whether it’s me staying in the bullpen or trying out for a rotation job then so be it.” Why in the world is this even being discussed right now? I mean, I know someone elicited this response from Russell, but why even go there? There’s absolutely no reason to even ask the question, and there’s no reason for Russell to go on at such lengths about it. You’re a reliever right now, kid, and a damn good one. Enjoy it.
  • If you’re desperately curious to know who would have pitched had last night’s game gone so long that Lendy Castillo was gassed, Sveum said it would have been Reed Johnson. Castillo would have gone to right field, and David DeJesus to center.
  • Rudy Jaramillo wants his hitters to have “swagger.” I’d rather they had “patience,” “power,” and “line-drive ability.”
  • Holy smokes, I thought Gordon Edes blasted Josh Beckett, but Jeff Passan blows Edes out of the water. Clearly Beckett has pissed off quite a few folks in his day. It’s a great read if you’re always on the look out for Soxenfreude.
  • So, I talked a big game going into last night’s one-day fantasy contest, and, I, um, didn’t back it up. I finished ahead of just about 1/3 of you, so at least I wasn’t at the bottom of the pack. Congrats to FiveFifty550, necubsfan, bdeal01, mmontice, maddawg24, mattylud, CryinMyBlueKoolAid, acsheetz, jshdeal, and Cubbie Blues for finishing in the top 10. Be on the lookout in June – we’ll do it again.
  • written by

    Brett Taylor is the Lead Cubs Writer at Bleacher Nation, and you can find him on Twitter at @BleacherNation and on LinkedIn here. Brett is also the founder of Bleacher Nation, which opened up shop in 2008 as an independent blog about the Chicago Cubs. Later growing to incorporate coverage of other Chicago sports, Bleacher Nation is now one of the largest regional sports blogs on the web.

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