Carlos Marmol:
I asked a co-worker who is a Cub fan what he felt about Marmol. He said he would be like “another Hill, Guzman, Wuertz.” That was before Marmol’s first major league start on Sunday when he allowed one run in six innings.
“The first pitch, I was nervous,” Marmol said. “After that, it was like pitching in Double-A. It was exciting.”
Don’t know if that changed the mind of Mr Co-worker. Not that should necessarily. Much is made of a rookie’s first MLB start with the thinking that it steers the rest of his career. Much was/is being made of Cole Hamels first start on May 12 where he threw five shutout innings. Since then, he’s done ok. He’s maintained a 3.68 ERA and 22 Ks in 22 innings, certainly decent stats for a incoming rookie.
But my point, before we get too excited about Marmol (I know, with the Cubs pitching the way it is, the temptation is there), let’s see some more. Fortunately for Marmol, the opportunity is there.
The LA Dodgers New Crop of Rookies:
I ran across this USA Today article published today about the Dodger class of 06. The list of Russell Martin, Matt Kemp, Willy Aybar, and Andre Ethier was more than familiar to me having read Teddy Ballgame’s Boys of Summer, Indeed article. Since then, I’ve noticed those boys more and more in the Dodger box scores.
The Dodgers also have 21-year old Jonathan Broxton who throws fire and slugger Joel Guzman.
6’6″ Guzman is a natural shortstop but with his pure hitting ability, the Dodgers are moving him to left to give him time to develop. Of all the Dodger rookies, Guzman has probably the least playing time but probably the most potential.
As for Broxton, he’s gotten more playing time in the bigs than Guzman. And faring pretty well at that. With 21+ innngs under his belt, he’s got a 2.95 ERA. And that part about throwing fire?? He’s got 28 strikeouts so far.