3 mistakes Oli Marmol can make to get fired at end of the Cardinals season

The St. Louis Cardinals got off to a good start in the second half, taking two of three against the Atlanta Braves. They were right in the thick of the NL Wild Card race. Unfortunately, they have won just one of the four series they've played since, and just lost an important game to the New York Mets.

Overall, they've dropped nine of their last 14 games to fall to 57-56 on the season. They were in a Wild Card spot not too long ago, but are now 4.0 games back as of this writing. FanGraphs gives them a 16.3 percent chance of making the postseason. It's possible, but they're going to have to get back on track ASAP.

Oli Marmol hasn't been the sole reason they've lost these games, but he has never been flawless as a manager. If the Cardinals fall out of it and miss the postseason, Marmol could easily wind up losing his job. If he were to make any of these three mistakes, that would only encourage the Cardinals to make that move.

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3) Oli Marmol can get himself fired by giving his players too many pre-planned games off

If there's one thing that Oli Marmol can do to irritate Cardinals fans, it's giving players pre-planned games off. This means that the Cardinals plan to rest certain players on certain days regardless of how they or the team is doing.

The Cardinals did this earlier this season with Nolan Arenado. He broke a long home run drought and then was immediately benched the following game. He has done this in the past as well. With where the Cardinals are right now standings-wise, Marmol can't afford to do that.

It's always ideal to have everyone rested, but the Cardinals can't afford to run many, if any, B-team lineups. With their odds being as slim as they are to make the postseason, they need to be playing their best players just about every day. If an off-day is needed for a slumping, injured, or tired player so be it, but nothing should be pre-planned from Marmol. It's August. The Cardinals have to be desperate.

2) Miles Mikolas cannot remain in the Cardinals rotation when Lance Lynn comes back from the IL

The Cardinals' starting rotation has had its ups and downs this season, but it has probably exceeded expectations thanks to Lance Lynn and Kyle Gibson. These were two veterans that most fans assumed were going to provide little to no value, but they've both performed like solid mid-rotation arms for much of the year.

Unfortunately, Lynn was placed on the IL on trade deadline day, making the Erick Fedde acquisition that much more important. As unfortunate as the injury is, it does appear to be minor. Lynn is expected to be back sometime in mid-August according to MLB.com.

Once Lynn returns, he should be added back to their rotation. Andre Pallante is presumably who he'd be replacing, but Miles Mikolas is who he should be replacing. Not only does Mikolas have a 5.12 ERA in 23 starts this season, but he has a 6.14 ERA in his last eight starts. He most recently allowed four runs in four innings in what could end up being a crucial loss against the Cubs.

Assuming he continues to struggle, what is the rationale for having him in the rotation over Andre Pallante, a pitcher who despite a rough last start, has been mostly effective in the rotation? Mikolas is an established veteran making a lot of money, but Pallante has looked like the better option lately. Unless that changes, the Cardinals should not keep Mikolas in their rotation over him.

1) Continuing to hit Paul Goldschmidt in the middle of the lineup could cost Oli Marmol his job

It's been a frustrating season for many Cardinals position players who were expected to play big roles in this offense, but nobody has been more disappointing than Paul Goldschmidt. He won the NL MVP award in 2022, had a somewhat respectable .810 OPS last season, and has fallen off a cliff completely in 2024.

The 36-year-old enters Tuesday's game with a .230/.289/.386 slash line. He has hit 17 home runs and has 43 RBI in 109 games played. He has struck out 100 more times than he has walked. It has been by far the worst season of Goldschmidt's 14-year career, and yet he continues to hit in the middle of the Cardinals' order.

Goldschmidt has either hit third, fourth, or fifth in each of the Cardinals' last seven games. He has responded by going 5-for-26 in those games. It makes some sense to hit Goldschmidt higher in the lineup against lefties considering his success against southpaws this season, but three of those seven games were started by right-handed pitchers. Goldschmidt has a .637 OPS against righties this season.

If the Cardinals want to maximize their potential down the stretch, they need to use their good hitters higher up in the order. It isn't 2022 anymore. Goldschmidt hasn't hit well enough this season to warrant consistent starts in the middle of the order, particularly against right-handed pitching. Marmol using him higher than fifth or sixth in the order is tough to defend.