Carlos Marmol got off on the wrong foot in Thursday's Opening Day contest, giving up the winning run in a 2-1 loss to the Nationals.

Marmol entered in the ninth inning of a tie game, retired the first two batters, and then surrendered a double and RBI single that turned out to be the game-winner. Coming off the worst season since his rookie campaign, Marmol could be a hit-or-miss closer all season.

Carlos Marmol (hand) expects to return to game action on Monday.

Marmol left Tuesday's game after feeling a cramp in his right hand and tightness in his neck, but an MRI revealed no significant nerve issues. The Cubs' closer is scheduled to throw a side session Thursday.

An MRI taken Wednesday on Carlos Marmol's right hand revealed no significant nerve issues.

Marmol should be back on his normal schedule in a couple of days. The 29-year-old Chicago closer has made three straight scoreless appearances in the Cactus League since his rough early outings.

Carlos Marmol is being sent for a precautionary MRI after feeling a cramp in his right hand during Tuesday's outing.

It doesn't appear to be a major concern, but he'll undergo tests for some peace of mind. Marmol has allowed seven runs over 5 1/3 innings this spring (11.81 ERA), but he has three straight scoreless appearances.

Carlos Marmol exited Tuesday's game against the Rangers with an apparent injury.

Marmol struck out one batter over two-thirds of an inning before being visited on the mound by Cubs' manager Dale Sveum and a team trainer. The exact nature of the injury isn't yet clear, but we should hear an update soon.

Carlos Marmol had a rough day in Chicago's 8-6 win over the Reds on Monday, allowing three runs on two hits and two walks in only one inning of work.

Not good. Marmol tallied just one strikeout in watching his Cactus League ERA soar to 23.63 through his first 2 2/3 innings of work. Ugly spring numbers aren't typically a concern for established major-league pitchers, but they are not a good sign for a closer who posted a 5.91 ERA, 1.50 WHIP and 47/26 K/BB ratio in 32 innings after the All-Star break last season.

Cubs manager Dale Sveum and pitching coach Chris Bosio watched Carlos Marmol's first side session of the spring intently on Sunday, giving him pointers in an attempt to get the closer back to his pre-2011 dominance.

On the docket, particularly, was Marmol's cutter, which he admitted messed up his mechanics last year. "He is what he is - he's an impressive closer but he's a slider guy with one of the best, unhittable sliders that we've seen in a long time," Sveum said. "That's what he is and unfortunately sometimes he can get into a lot of pitches in innings because of it, but it's so devastating he gets out of it, too. You don't want him doing anything that Carlos Marmol isn't used to. I think he'll be back to that this year." Marmol lost 15 pounds over the winter. The 29-year-old righty posted an underwhelming 4.01 ERA and 1.38 WHIP this past year for Chicago.

Closers Carlos Marmol and Joakim Soria could be acquired for "the right price," according to FOXSports.com's Jon Paul Morosi.

WEEI's Rob Bradford reported earlier this month that the Red Sox and Royals engaged in failed trade talks regarding Soria. Kansas City was seeking multiple big-time prospects in return and the Red Sox weren't willing to splurge. With Jonathan Broxton in tow and Greg Holland coming off a breakout year, it might make sense to send Soria packing. But, if Soria bounces back in 2012 as the Royals expect, he'll still be a relative bargain over the next three years at $22.75 million. Marmol, meanwhile, looks to be an expendable commodity on a Cubs team planning on a "complete and total rebuild." Marmol posted an underwhelming 4.01 ERA and 1.38 WHIP this past year for Chicago, but he'd likely fetch a decent prospect or two because of the potential he's shown in the past. The 29-year-old righty is owed $7 million next season and $9.8 million in 2013.

According to Phil Rogers of the Chicago Tribune, Cubs closer Carlos Marmol is drawing trade interest.

If new Cubs president Theo Epstein really wants to shake things up and start from scratch, moving Marmol might make sense. He posted an underwhelming 4.01 ERA and 1.38 WHIP this past year for Chicago, but he'd likely fetch a decent prospect or two because of the potential he's shown in the past. The 29-year-old righty is owed $7 million next season and $9.8 million in 2013.

Cubs general manager Jed Hoyer said Tuesday that he doesn't envision Carlos Marmol losing the closer's role.

Marmol posted a 4.01 ERA and 1.38 WHIP this season while leading the majors with 10 blown saves. Hoyer sees his 2010 season as reason to believe in a rebound, but he'll need to recapture his velocity in order to pitch at a similar level again. The 29-year-old right-hander is owed $7 million next season and $9.8 million in 2013.

Carlos Marmol imploded in epic fashion Saturday, allowing two runs in the bottom of the ninth in a 2-1 loss to the Cardinals.

Ugly. Marmol gave up one hit and issued three walks, including one with the bases loaded to the tie the game. He then uncorked a wild pitch to allow the winning run to score. It was his major-league leading 10th blown save of the season.

Carlos Marmol pitched a scoreless inning of relief against the Reds Tuesday in an extra-innings loss.

More impressively, he struck out three while walking a batter. It was his second consecutive impressive performance -- he pitched a perfect ninth Monday against the Reds for his 32nd save -- after Marmol gave up four runs and took a loss on Saturday. The implosion caused Mike Quade to hand Sean Marshall the save on Sunday, but it appears that Marmol is back in the good graces of management.

Carlos Marmol pitched a perfect ninth Monday against the Reds for his 32nd save.

Sean Marshall got the save Sunday after Marmol gave up four runs and took a loss on Saturday, but the Cubs are standing by their usual closer for the month. Marmol has remained good much more often than not, but his bad outings have been particularly hideous.

Carlos Marmol notched his 31st save Tuesday, striking out two in a perfect ninth inning against the Giants.

Marmol hasn't allowed a hit or a walk since blowing a save August 16 against the Astros (allowing a grand slam in the ninth inning for his eighth blown opportunity of the year). Despite a dip in the velocity of his fastball, Marmol is on a roll, posting five consecutive perfect innings.

Carlos Marmol hasn't allowed a hit since blowing a save August 16 against the Astros.

Marmol has again found his groove, despite a dip in the velocity of his fastball. The right-hander has tallied 77 strikeouts in 61 1/3 innings and has recorded 30 saves. Of course, he's also blown eight opportunities.

Cubs manager Mike Quade isn't worried about drop in velocity.

The lack of zip on his fastball has been brought to light more recently, but Marmol's velocity has been down all year, as Fangraphs.com shows his average velocity at 91.8 mph, down from 94.1 last season. ``I just think he's mechanically so unorthodox, so tough to keep in line, that to me is probably as much of it as anything,'' Quade said. ``We'll keep a close eye on Marmol, as we do with all of them... It's an ongoing thing with Marm. He's had a wonderful run here, and this is the first real adversity I think that he's had in his career. But you deal with it, and the rest part of it we'll keep an eye on.''

Pitching for the first time since an ugly blown save and loss Tuesday, Carlos Marmol worked a perfect ninth in a tie game Friday against the Cardinals.

Another poor outing today could have gotten Marmol stripped of the closer's role again. Since he was strong in getting a strikeout and two groundouts, he should get the next save opp the Cubs generate.

Carlos Marmol imploded against the offensively-bereft Astros Tuesday, allowing a grand slam in the ninth inning to send the Cubs to a shocking 6-5 loss.

It was his eighth blown save of the year. Marmol entered the ninth looking at one of baseball's easiest save opportunities: A three-run lead against Houston. After getting lead-off hitter Jimmy Paredes to line out, things got ugly. J.B. Shuck singled to right and took second on a wild pitch. Clint Barmes singled and pinch-hitter Matt Downs walked to load the bases. Marmol then served up a grand slam to pinch-hitter Brian Bogusevic, who doubled both his season total of home runs and RBI on one pitch. Coming into the game, Marmol was 10-for-10 saving games since returning to the closer's role, though his control wasn't sharp during that stretch. Tuesday's implosion could get Cubs manager Mike Quade re-thinking his ninth-inning alignment. If he makes a change, Sean Marshall would be next-in-line for saves.

Carlos Marmol notched his 26th save Thursday despite retiring just three of the seven Nationals he faced.

Marmol loaded the bases on two walks and a single before getting his first out of the inning. He then allowed a run on an infield single before recovering to retire Brian Bixler and Rick Ankiel. Had the Cubs not already used both Sean Marshall and Kerry Wood, there's a good chance Marmol would have been taken out at some point during the inning. However, he's now 7-for-7 saving ames since returning to the closer's role.

Carlos Marmol earned save No. 20 with a scoreless ninth Sunday against the Cardinals.

It was Marmol's first save opportunity since he was put back into the closer's role. He did give up three runs while moping up in Friday's loss, but that's the only appearance in which he's given up runs in his last six trips to the mound.