Kuzul

The Cincinnati Reds played well Saturday in narrow victory at Yankee Stadium.  Homer Bailey is showing signs of being the starter that, for years, fans were told he was.  The bats were alive, and the Reds made the most of their opportunities.  Joey Votto is looking hot, Heisey and Phillips are heating up and talents like Costanzo are revealing their worth.  But that's not all the 6-5 win over New York revealed.The ninth inning came calling again for Sean Marshall.With the score at 6-3, he had a comfortable lead to work with.  Was there pressure?  Sure, but nowhere near the kind closers have to deal with on a regular basis.  Taking the mound for the 10th time this year, Marshall gave up four hits and two runs, while only recording a single out.  He was relieved by Jose Arredondo who was credited with the save.Marshall has seven saves on the ...

This might be hard to believe, but Sean Marshall has probably been better than most Chicago Cubs fans think this season. Marshall, who turned 28 last month, has had a marvelous season in the Cubs' bullpen in 2010. His 6-5 record reflects the confidence both Lou Piniella and Mike Quade have shown in Marshall, using him in tie games 21 times and on back-to-back days 25 times. Yet there are numbers in Marshall's stat line this season that leap off the page unexpectedly. He has nearly 11 strikeouts per nine innings, good for 13th in baseball. Largely because of that newfound whiff ability, Marshall also boasts a 2.37 FIP—tied for ninth in the league.  The strikeouts are well documented: a career-high 85 of them, despite having thrown fewer than 70 frames so far this year. Many fans, however, have not yet taken note of Marshall's much-improved ground-ball rate. Until 2010, Marshall had been susceptible to the ...

As we approach the July 31 MLB Trade Deadline, the Boston Red Sox will be looking to make a trade or two to help the team stay in playoff contention. Red Sox general manager Theo Epstein is looking to upgrade the bullpen as the team has had poor middle relief from Manny Delcarmen and Hideki Okajima over the last few weeks.  Epstein has reportedly considered many names such as Rafael Perez, Will Ohman, Mike Gonzalez, Michael Wuertz, Craig Breslow, Kerry Wood, Kyle Farnsworth, and David Aardsma as possible targets.  Arguably the top reliever available with Matt Capps heading the Twins is Blue Jays relief pitcher Scott Downs.  Downs, has an impressive 2.34 ERA in 47 games for Toronto.  However, the Blue Jays are asking for either Casey Kelly or Jose Iglesias for Downs, a price that they are not willing to pay. Even with the unlikely acquisition of Downs, the Red Sox still have ...

Since Carlos Marmol was moved to full-time closer duties, a big question was not how Marmol would perform in the new role, but who would replace him as the set-up man or relief ace role.Sean Marshall has answered all those questions, dominating opposing offenses as a full-time reliever this year.Marshall currently sports a sparkling 2.70 ERA in 18 relief appearances, which doesn't show how truly awesome he is pitching, as his Fielding Independent Pitching (FIP) is sitting at 1.29.He is striking batters out at a ridiculous 11.34 K/9 clip, and he is hardly walking anyone, leading to an otherworldly 7.00 K/BB.What, you might ask, is the change from previous years?Well, for starters, he is using his knee-buckling curve ball 10 percent more this year than in years past, and his average fastball velocity has increased from 87 mph to 89 mph. In addition to eliminating the change-up from his repertoire, ...