I was taking a look at Carlos Marmol’s player page at Fan Graphs last night and noticed an encouraging sign for the future and a partial explanation for Marmol’s historic 16 K/9 ratio in 2010. Here is Marmol’s First Pitch Strike % for the past four years:
| Year | First Pitch Strike % | Swinging Strike % | K/9 | ||
| 2007 | 57.5 | 13.5 | 12.46 | ||
| 2008 | 49.1 | 10.3 | 11.75 | ||
| 2009 | 49.9 | 10.1 | 11.31 | ||
| 2010 | 62.7 | 14.4 | 15.99 | ||
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It is not a stretch to say that when Marmol gets ahead in the count he is nearly unhittable. Pitching coaches always make a point of emphasizing the importance of getting ahead in the count and for some pitchers this is a natural advantage that is easily exploited. However, for a guy who can lower his walk rate by nearly two and still not bring it to 6 BB per 9, it’s a much more difficult task.
Hopefully Marmol can build on last year’s progression in this area and permanently change his approach on the mound, rather than regress as he did after the 2007 season. It should be painfully obvious to the Cubs and to Marmol the importance of him getting strike one in as many at bats as possible.
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