St. Louis Cardinals fans had reason to believe the 2025 MLB season would be Oli Marmol's last as manager. Not much was expected from the team after a mostly silent offseason, and Marmol hadn't given the organization much of a reason to keep him around long-term. Well, the organization now has reason to believe fully in Marmol, as against all odds, the Cardinals are currently in the postseason race. The Cardinals' strong start could give Marmol the security he needs and ensure that legends like Albert Pujols and Yadier Molina don't take his place anytime soon.
There's no telling as to whether the Cardinals would've actually replaced Marmol with Pujols or Molina, but there's a good chance they would have considered it if this season didn't go well. Pujols and Molina are both future Baseball Hall of Famers who starred in St. Louis, and they both have some managing experience. Hiring one of them to run the show would've been an easy way to get the fan base to believe in the organization's future and make watching and attending games a must.
The team's hot start, though, should squash these potential rumors once and for all.
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Oli Marmol is proving he's here to stay with the Cardinals
The Cardinals begin Tuesday's action with a 36-30 record, good for second place in the NL Central and only 1.5 games back of a postseason spot. Will the Cardinals actually make the playoffs? If I had to go out on a limb, I'd say probably not without major trade deadline activity, considering how loaded the National League is. Still, did anyone have the Cardinals being as competitive as they've been entering the year? They've exceeded expectations.
Marmol isn't playing the games, obviously, but it feels like he's pushed more buttons correctly this season than ever before in St. Louis. Something he's done extraordinarily well is pulling his starting pitchers earlier in games than many might expect in order to pursue bullpen matchups he likes. Batting 1.000 on these moves will never happen, but Marmol has made the right move more often than not.
It would've been fair in the eyes of most for the Cardinals to have fired Marmol after missing the postseason for a second straight year in 2024, but the Cardinals gave him another year to prove himself, and he's doing just that. Now, it'd be foolish for the Cardinals to turn to anyone else, even if that means turning down a pair of St. Louis legends.