3 Cardinals red flags heading into the 2024 season
By Curt Bishop
2. Oli Marmol's credibility
One issue that plagued the Cardinals in 2023 was the clubhouse culture. There wasn't enough accountability.
While the additions of Carpenter, Lynn, Sonny Gray, and Kyle Gibson should help, as they are players with strong leadership qualities and great experience, they ultimately prove that the main issue with the clubhouse culture stems from manager Oli Marmol.
Without Albert Pujols and Yadier Molina, the Cardinals clubhouse took a hit. Two of the main leaders from the 2022 team were gone, which left them vulnerable in 2023.
Marmol was unable to rally the troops after a 10-24 start, and also made some key mistakes along the way.
He was front and center when the Cardinals made the questionable decision to pull Willson Contreras from starting catching duties in May, and he also publicly called out the now departed Tyler O'Neill for a supposed lack of effort.
These instances put a dark cloud over the season and cast doubt over the young manager's credibility.
This is something the Cardinals front office and ownership group should have taken into account at the end of the season. And if things go south in 2024 as they did last season, we could see a change at the managerial position.