Sean Christopher Marshall (born August 30, 1982 in Richmond, Virginia) is a Major League Baseball left-handed pitcher for the Chicago Cubs. After three minor league seasons, Marshall was added to the Cubs 40-man roster in November, 2005.
Marshall graduated from Manchester High School in Midlothian, Virginia, in 2000. He attended Virginia Commonwealth University, and was drafted by the Cubs in the sixth round of the 2003 Major League Baseball Draft. Marshall spent three years in the minor leagues before being promoted to play with the Cubs, and had 24 starts in his rookie season in 2006. Marshall started the 2007 season on the disabled list, but returned to the Cubs rotation in mid-May.
Marshall's twin brother Brian also plays baseball, and was taken in the fifth round of the same draft by the Boston Red Sox.
Minor league career[]
Sean Marshall pitching for the Lansing Lugnuts
Sean was drafted by the Cubs in the sixth round of the 2003 amateur draft after pitching for three seasons at VCU including a junior season where he went 7-2 with a 2.61 ERA recording 95 strikeouts in 86.1 innings[1]. Sean signed with the Cubs on June 7, 2003, and was assigned to the Single-A Boise Hawks. Marshall was moved up a level each successive season, pitching in AA in 2004 and AAA in 2005. In 2006, Marshall spent the majority of the season with the major league team after starting the season at AAA. The following season he started in the minors, but as part of a rehab program healing from an arm injury.
Stats[1][]
| Season | Team | Level | G | GS | CG | SHO | IP | H | R | ER | HR | BB | SO | W | L | ERA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2003 | Boise | A- | 14 | 14 | 0 | 0 | 73.2 | 66 | 31 | 21 | 1 | 23 | 88 | 5 | 6 | 2.57 |
| 2003 | Lansing | A | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 7.0 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 1 | 0 | 0.00 |
| 2004 | Lansing | A | 7 | 7 | 1 | 1 | 48.2 | 29 | 7 | 6 | 1 | 4 | 51 | 2 | 0 | 1.11 |
| 2004 | West Tenn | AA | 6 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 29.0 | 36 | 20 | 19 | 2 | 12 | 23 | 2 | 2 | 5.90 |
| 2005 | Daytona | A+ | 12 | 12 | 1 | 0 | 69.0 | 63 | 24 | 21 | 7 | 26 | 61 | 4 | 4 | 2.74 |
| 2005 | West Tenn | AA | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 25.0 | 16 | 7 | 7 | 1 | 5 | 24 | 0 | 1 | 2.52 |
| 2006 | Iowa | AAA | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 21.2 | 17 | 10 | 8 | 1 | 14 | 21 | 0 | 2 | 3.32 |
| 2007 | Daytona | A+ | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 6.0 | 7 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 3.00 |
| 2007 | Iowa | AAA | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 24.2 | 17 | 6 | 5 | 2 | 8 | 15 | 2 | 0 | 1.82 |
Major League Career[]
2006 Season[]
He made his major league debut against the St. Louis Cardinals on April 9, 2006, earning a no-decision[2]. In that game, he yielded a two-run homer to Scott Rolen in the first inning before settling down to pitch solidly for 4+ innings. The Cubs trailed 4-3 in the late innings, but rallied to win on a Michael Barrett grand slam in the eighth inning. He earned his first major league win on April 14, 2006, against the Pittsburgh Pirates. [3] Sean indicated his pleasure with the start. Marshall stayed in the starting rotation for the first half of the year before suffering a strained left side muscle[4]. Marshall left the rotation after a July 16 crushing loss in which he gave up a grand slam in one inning, blowing a 5-2 lead in the 6th inning against the New York Mets.[5] In nineteen starts, Sean posted a 5-8 record with a 4.98 ERA. On September 2, Marshall returned to the Cubs rotation, but posted a loss against the San Francisco Giants. During the game, Sean gave up career home run #728 to Barry Bonds in Chicago.[6] In his remaining four starts, Marshall struggled, and completed six innings only once.
2007 Season[]
Marshall was fighting for the 5th starting pitcher spot for the 2007 Chicago Cubs organization. After rehabbing from sore shoulder he started the season in Des Moines Iowa with the AAA Iowa Cubs. On May 22, Marshall was promoted to the Cubs starting rotation by manager Lou Piniella replacing Angel Guzman.[7] Marshall struggled to get run support in his first two starts and fell to 0-2. On June 3, 2007, he claimed his first win of 2007 by matching a career high 8 strikeouts by leading the Cubs to a 10-1 victory over the Atlanta Braves.[8]
Marshall extended his string of quality starts with two additional wins against the Atlanta Braves and the Seattle Mariners, improving his record to 3-2. On June 13, 2007, Marshall pitched eight innings against Seattle, giving up seven hits and only two earned runs. He expressed his enthusiasm after the game.
| “ | Yeah, I'm pretty excited about tonight. The better I pitch, the more confidence I'm building up. I'll just try to do the same thing next week, the following week and, hopefully, the rest of the year and a couple of more years after that.[9] | ” |
Marshall continued his strong June, and was 4-0 with a 2.32 ERA, but was dealt a loss on June 30 by the Milwaukee Brewers lasting just two innings and giving up seven runs [10]. In July, Marshall continued pitching well, giving up only six runs in his four starts; however, the Cubs did not provide much run support as he only gained one victory during the span[11].
2008 Season[]
In spring training in 2008, Marshall led the majors in wild pitches, with 5 in 14.2 innings.[1] Marshall was not called up to the Cubs at the start of the season, however on April 9 he was recalled. That day, he collected his first major league save in a 15 inning Cubs victory against the Pittsburgh Pirates. On June 24 Mashall pitched against the Baltimore Orioles. He pitched 4.2 inings gave up 7 hits 4 runs 1 walk but struck out 7.
MLB Stats[]
Current as of August 8, 2008.
| Season | Team | W | L | ERA | G | GS | IP | H | K | BB | WHIP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2006 | Chicago Cubs | 6 | 9 | 5.59 | 24 | 24 | 125.2 | 132 | 77 | 59 | 1.52 |
| 2007 | Chicago Cubs | 7 | 8 | 3.92 | 21 | 19 | 103.1 | 107 | 67 | 35 | 1.34 |
| 2008 | Chicago Cubs | 2 | 2 | 3.93 | 21 | 3 | 34.1 | 32 | 30 | 10 | 1.22 |
| Career stats | 15 | 19 | 4.72 | 66 | 46 | 263.1 | 271 | 174 | 104 | 1.42 |
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Sean Marshall, thebaseballcube.com , Retrieved on June 6, 2007
- ↑ Seligman, Andrew, Chi Cubs 8, St. Louis 4, Yahoo! Sports, Retrieved on May 23, 2007
- ↑ Robinson, Alan ,Chi Cubs 11, Pittsburgh 6, Yahoo! Sports , Retrieved on June 6, 2007
- ↑ Fendrich, Howard, Washington 7, Chi Cubs 3, Yahoo! Sports , Retrieved on June 6, 2007
- ↑ Muskat, Carrie, A grand Mets endeavor, MLB.com , Retrieved on April 3, 2008
- ↑ Gano, Rick, San Francisco 4, Chi Cubs 2, Yahoo! Sports , Retrieved on June 6, 2007
- ↑ Sullivan,Paul, Piniella on closer fiasco: My bad, Chicago Tribune, Retrieved on May 31,2007
- ↑ Selidman, Andrew, Cubs 10, Atlanta 1, Yahoo! Sports, Retrieved on June 3, 2007.
- ↑ Sullivan, Paul, Marshall, Fontenot, Hill spark Cubs past Mariners, Chicago Tribune, Retrieved on June 14, 2007.
- ↑ Gano, Rick, Milwaukee 13, Chi Cubs 4, Yahoo! Sports, Retrieved on August 9, 2007
- ↑ Sean Marshall Bio, Yahoo! Sports, Retrieved on August 9, 2007