Today, after finally sobering up, I went to the Chicago Cubs’ ESPN page and came across an interesting article in the fans favorites section: a run down of the position battles in various spring training camps. To no surprise I found the Cubs fifth starting rotation spot on the list. To my dismay, I found the Cubs fourth starting rotation spot on the list. Now feeling a little worried, I was terrified not to see anyone challenging Carlos Marmol for the closer job on the list.

For those casual Cubs fans that do not know why I would worry about a relief pitcher with an incredible slider and a terrific 10.6 K/9 ratio, let me remind you that this guy has been a head case for years. He is a converted outfielder/catcher that three years to prove himself in a setup role and already lost the closer job once in spring training.

For those of you that want statistical proof, look at Marmol’s splits and scroll down to the situational numbers below his performance against players on the right side and left side of the plate, below his monthly performances, and far below his performance against each team.

Look at his performance with bases loaded and scoring position with two outs. Pitching with the bases loaded in a position (where it is impossible to pass the buck) he held runners to a .077 batting average…but allowed runners to walk across home plate six times in 19 plate appearances. That means he allowed an on base percentage of .350. This is pitiful compared to the league’s top closers and is awfully close to one of last season’s worst, the Philadelphia Phillies’ Brad Lidge.

His numbers become even more terrifying when he is presented with the too often predicament of having runners in scoring position with two outs. He was in this position 50 times in 2009. He walked the batter 12 of those times. Combined with the nine hits he allowed, he allowed opponents a .442 on base percentage or an almost 50 percent chance of keeping the inning alive.

Now, if we had a terrible starter I could avoid purchasing Chicago Cubs tickets to his start (if I did not have season tickets, which I do not); however, if our closer is a head case who loses control of his pitches every time the pressure kicks up a notch I cannot avoid catching an end of a blown game. Hopefully I am reading a little too much into the nitty-gritty and the 15 saves in 19 opportunities is a far more relevant and telling stat.

After Gregg blew another game the other day, a lot of people were mad at him.  I know I am.  This is a little soon, but you know how when you start to hate someone everything about them annoys you?  Well I am in that place.  Like why does he wear those stupid glasses?  Does he think he’s Eric Gagne?  They look retarded and clearly they aren’t helping him see, because he can’t hit any of his spots.

Anyways, Lou decided that the blown save wasn’t Gregg’s fault at all.  In fact, he blamed it entirely on Koyie Hill for calling the wrong pitches behind the plate:

“You can’t walk as many people as we did from the seventh inning on. You just can’t do it. You’re going to lose,” said Piniella, who was most upset about the Duffy walk — for the pitch selection as much as the result. ”Get the ball over the plate. Make the other team beat you. Period.”

Piniella called Hill into his office after the game to make the point clear enough to be heard out in the clubhouse: Don’t fool around with secondary pitches there; make Duffy hit a fastball.

Wow, so this was so much Koyie’s fault that Lou felt the need to embarass him publicly by yelling at him so everyone in the clubhouse could hear?  Here’s my theory:  Lou made a controversial decision to make Gregg the closer over Marmol.  Now that it is starting to blow up in his face, he is trying to blame it on other people and defend his decision to make Gregg the closer.

On the other hand, maybe he is just trying to manage egos, and he doesn’t want Gregg’s fragile ego to be damaged.  That way he still has confidence when Lou sends him to the mound.  Either way, the Kevin Gregg experiment is off to a shaky start, and I think it’s getting close to Marmol time.