3 Cardinals besides Oli Marmol who shouldn’t survive the summer
At 27-42, the Cardinals are having a terrible season, and no signs of improvement are coming.
The excuses made by St. Louis Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol and the team are making the losses worse, as it seems like they don’t know how to improve the situation. It looks like a complete lack of leadership.
Marmol will call the players out, as he did after Wednesday’s soul-crushing loss to the Giants 8-5. The Cardinals led this game until two outs were in the bottom of the ninth. Mike Yastrzemski had two balls and two strikes when he launched a two-run home run to right field off Giovanny Gallegos to tie the game at 5. The Cardinals were a strike away from taking the last game of the series from the Giants, securing their sweep over the Cardinals.
It just adds to the mounting frustration felt by fans who came into this season with such high expectations, even as the team did not address issues regarding pitching in the off-season.
After the game, Marmol spoke to reporters about the frustration and losses. “At some point, you’ve got to do something about it. .. You get punched in the face, punch back.” But who exactly do they punch back?
Marmol has consistently called out players, including Tyler O’Neill and Willson Contreras, with the results showing the player becoming uncomfortable and not playing well, even injuring themselves. Communication led to improvement for Contreras and the pitching staff, but the team still has other issues.
Nolan Arenado tried to explain what was going on with the team. “This has nothing to do with the coaches. It has to do with the players. … We don’t execute. I’m not good with runners in scoring positions. We’re not getting outs when we need to, putting guys away. We’re not playing defense. … We don’t execute, and that’s why we’ve been playing the way we’re playing..”
Arenado pinpoints the causes of the losses. But he doesn’t give a solid answer as to what can be done to rectify the situation. Marmol’s answer is to call out the players and tell them to punch back.
As we inch through June, it is a wonder that Marmol has made it through with his job still intact. Things do not seem to be getting better for the Cardinals. They seem to be getting worse.
Marmol and Arenado could be crying out to the president of baseball operations, John Mozeliak, and Chairman Bill DeWitt Jr. for changes to be made to the team. Could Mozeliak and DeWitt quietly take the hints for a needed jolt to the team? Time will tell, and hopefully, that is soon.
Besides Marmol, let’s see who else from the Cardinals may not survive the summer in St. Louis.
Cardinals rumors: 3 Cards besides Oli Marmol who won’t make it through summer
3. Dusty Blake shouldn’t make it through the summer
Before Dusty Blake became the pitching coach for the Cardinals, he was a pitching analyst for the front office. When former coach Mike Maddux decided to return home to Texas, this somehow made way for Blake.
Blake was the pitching coach at Duke University for three seasons before joining the Cardinals’ front office in 2021. He was also a head coach and associate athletic director at Pfeiffer University. He coached at several other small colleges.
Blake has loads of coaching experience at the collegiate level. His only major league baseball experience was when he joined the front office as an analyst.
The Cardinals made zero moves in the offseason to improve the pitching staff Blake was tasked to take over. With no real major league experience, it’s curious why Mozeliak would think it was wise to put Blake in this situation.
If the Cardinals want to get serious about pitching and winning again, Blake is not the man you want leading the pitching staff.