The Chicago Cubs played the Washington Nationals in their regular-season opener for the 2012 MLB season on April 5, 2012. The Cubs aren't expected to be playoff contenders as they're undergoing a rebuilding project with first-year general manager Jed Hoyer and first-year president of baseball operations Theo Epstein.
The Cubs never trailed through the first eight innings of their Opening Day game. Unfortunately, the score after the ninth inning is what counts. Carlos Marmol surrendered the go-ahead RBI single to Nationals shortstop Ian Desmond as Washington won 2-1.
Let's look at some of the positives and negatives from this contest.
Great: Ryan Dempster
The Cubs had a 1-0 lead when Ryan Dempster was removed in the eighth inning. Dempster actually out-pitched Stephen Strasburg as he only surrendered two hits and three walks through 7.2 innings. Dempster also had 10 strikeouts while Strasburg had five.
Unfortunately, the bullpen made certain that Dempster received nothing more than a no-decision. The Cubs will need more pitching performances like this one if they're finishing higher than fifth in the NL Central.
Good And Bad: Marlon Byrd
The Cubs' only run of the game occurred when Marlon Byrd hit a RBI single in the fourth inning. Byrd finished 1-of-4 with an RBI, two strikeouts and two stranded runners.
Shrug It Off: Defense
Ian Stewart had the Cubs' first error of the season. That's to be expected since this was their first meaningful game of the year. Just don't make this a weekly thing and it won't be a problem.
Horrible: Bullpen
As previously mentioned, Dempster surrendered two hits and three walks through 7.2 innings. Kerry Wood and Carlos Marmol only needed 1.1 innings to surrender those totals.
The Nationals tied the game at 1-1 after Wood walked three consecutive batters in the eighth inning. Marmol received the loss after he surrendered two hits, one of which was the go-ahead RBI single from Ian Desmond. I guess that's less frustrating than a blown save.
Both pitchers were either injured or pitched poorly during Cactus League play. They still don't look good. The bullpen could be in serious trouble if these two don't perform to their best standards.
Questionable: Dale Sveum
Cubs manager Dale Sveum used Marmol in the ninth inning despite it not being a save situation. That's understandable because they're not playing on April 6 and Marmol would've never been needed for a save situation after the game was 1-1 heading into the ninth inning. The closer is usually perceived as the No. 1 option out of the bullpen. The No. 1 option is the right guy for that job.
The problem is that Marmol is the No. 1 option.
Sveum's other interesting decision came when he used Joe Mather as a pinch runner after Stewart hit a triple in the ninth inning. Mather was thrown out at the plate when he ran on a contact play while the infield was playing near the plate. I'm not sure why Tony Campana wasn't kept as an additional bench player if Sveum was going to try things like this. It probably wouldn't have mattered much on that play though.
Summary:
Don't be surprised if we see many more of these 1-0, 2-1 types of games. I mostly want to see continuous improvements throughout the season and a manager who can put his players in the best position to win.
Joshua Huffman grew up in Michigan's Upper Peninsula as a Green Bay Packers and Chicago Cubs enthusiast. He immediately gained an admiration for Cubs fans after watching numerous games on WGN during the mid-90s. His favorite Cubs moment was Kerry Wood's(notes) 1-hitter, 20K extravaganza that was only denied of a no-hitter by Kevin Orie's defensive blunder. As a Packers and Cubs fan, he suffered through Steve Bartman and "4th & 26" in a span of three months. He can be found on Twitter HERE.
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