Jason Marquis: Hey Maybe He Doesn't Suck as Bad as We All Thought!

From the “Hey, he’s finally earning his paycheck!” department, the “Hurling Hebrew” Jason Marquis appears to be getting his act together and might be on his way to helping solidify the Cubs’ starting rotation. As a Jekyll and Hyde member of the Cubs’ pitching staff, Marquis (who is earning $6.375 million this year) has been an absolute rollercoaster through the first two months of the season. For example, Marquis gave up 1 ER in 6.0 IP against Pittsburgh (4/19) and 2 ER in 7.0 IP against Colorado (4/24), only to follow that up with three straight starts of less than 6.0 IP and more than 4 ER per game. Marquis is, as they say, maddeningly inconsistent.

However, Marquis appears to be figuring things out in the third month of the season. After posting a 5.53 ERA in 27.2 IP during the month of May, Marquis is 2-0 in June with a 2.38 ERA after beating the Dodgers on Sunday Night Baseball. Against the Dodgers, Marquis allowed three hits and 1 ER in 6.2 IP and walked only one batter. Even more impressive, Marquis retired 12 straight batters after allowing a leadoff single to open the game. Granted the Dodgers started a lineup that included Juan Pierre and Angel Berroa (not exactly the ’27 Yankees), but it was an impressive pitching performance nonetheless.

The most telling quote from Sunday’s game story is about Marquis being what I like to call a “mental midget.” You can also call it “Rich Hill Syndrome,” and it occurs when a player wastes their talent because they fail to realize that they actually have talent and use their talent appropriately. Said Mark DeRosa after Sunday’s game:

"Jason's more than capable," Mark DeRosa said. "Jason sometimes becomes his own worst enemy. He sometimes doesn't realize how great his stuff is. When he's on, he's tough to hit."

That might be part of it, and as long as Marquis can avoid control problems (Marquis has walked 28 batters this season), a healthy and performing Marquis could solidify the Cubs’ rotation behind Carlos Zambrano, Ted Lilly, and Ryan Dempster. In fact, for the Cubs to continue their regular-season success, Marquis doesn’t have to be fantastic, just not suck.