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.