Carlos Marmol's turnaround eighth inning in Monday night's Chicago Cubs win was something president of baseball operations Theo Epstein watched with special interest. Marmol regained his form and his aura, turning catcalls by the fans into cheers.
“The way to work through it in this (ballpark) is to take the feedback you get sometimes and turn it into a positive,” Epstein said. “Last night he said the booing motivated him because he knew he had to get it right and that is a mature approach. So you might as well turn it into a positive.”
Before Tuesday night’s game, Cubs manager Dale Sveum said that although Marmol has been demoted from the closer’s role for now, he would like to see him regain his former position. Epstein concurred.
“I think everyone has to recognize he wants to succeed as much as anyone else,” Epstein said. “No one wants to go out there and fail, especially in a role when you let your teammates down. But he is paid a lot of money to do a job and his has a lot of support around him. It’s up to him to go out and fix himself, but I have not seen any signs of him backing down.”
Marmol lost his job after imploding in a save opportunity against the Reds last week. The Cubs reliever is in the second year of a three-year, $21 million deal he signed before the 2011 season.
