With the departure of the Cajun Connection, Sean Marshall has become my favorite Cubs player. Unfairly, despite a great season (and solid performances in the past), Sean is not getting the recognition he deserves. I was looking to buy a Sean Marshall shirt during the last couple of months of the season, and I couldn’t find any. They had Andrew Cashner shirts, almost as soon as he came up, but nothing for Sean – in spite of the fact Gordon Wittenmyer of the Chicago Sun-Times said Marshall was the Cubs’ MVP this year.
But first, let me note that I have been wrong about Sean Marshall a couple of times. Back in October, 2006, after Sean’s first season with the Cubs, I said that I was a little doubtful about Sean (as a starter). I was wrong.
In May of last year, I wrote a post protesting the Cubs’ decision to take Sean out of the starting rotation and turn him in a left-handed relief specialist. That appears to have been wrong, too, because Sean had a great season in 2010 as a relief pitcher for the Cubs.
Sean was in the mix for the starting rotation during spring training, but when Angel Guzman got hurt, Sean was moved to the bullpen. He started out as the designated left-handed reliever, but he eventually became the main set-up man for Carlos Marmol, as well as the go-to guy to get dangerous lefties out.
Sean finished the season with a 2.65 ERA. But more importantly, he had a 1.11 WHIP, a .279 OBA and a .290 slugging percentage against him. He averaged over a strike out an inning, and his ground outs/air outs ratio was 0.63. Along with Carlos Marmol, Sean was part of one of the best one-two relief combinations in baseball. Without Marshall in the eighth, Marmol wouldn’t have had anything to do in the ninth.
After this season, and contrary to what I said in May of 2009, I am beginning to think that maybe, with his great curve ball, Sean’s best role is as a late-inning reliever. You can’t get used to his curve ball if you only see him once a game. But given my track record on Sean Marshall, if I say that, he will probably be a starter again next year.
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