Oli Marmol finally acknowledges panic mode months after Cardinals' brutal start

So much has changed for the St. Louis Cardinals since the early parts of the season. Right out of the gate, the Redbirds fell out of the nest and were about to splatter all over the sidewalk. They were a dreadful 15-24 through 39 games on May 11. Then, they somehow got their wings under them and have been soaring higher ever since, winning 31 of their last 48 games, which is the best in baseball.

As one of his many delicious nuggets at the end of his latest post for USA TODAY Sports, Bob Nightengale dropped this epic quote from Cardinals manager Oli Marmol. The Redbirds manager said that it was pretty much full-blown panic mode for him roughly two months ago. Keep in mind that St. Louis was coming off its worst season in 30 years, and he was already feeling the heat beforehand.

With the Cardinals being the biggest team in town in a baseball city, you can sense the panic here.

“It was pretty much a doomsday type of feel for everybody, but the ones who were in that clubhouse."

Fortunately, the Cardinals got back to playing Cardinals baseball in the last two months. They have been a model of consistency in the midwest for decades. They have more World Series championships than any National League team for a reason. Finding ways to win is just in their blood. Managerial chaos and bad front office moves set the back a bit, but the Cardinals are finally back!

Let's discuss what type of a second half Marmol and the Cardinals should be looking forward to.

Oli Marmol admitted to St. Louis Cardinals being in full-blown panic mode

Following this team from afar, I think the Cardinals just needed to flush some things out of their system. The end to the Mike Shildt era was highly combustible. Forcing Marmol into the big chair a tad prematurely certainly didn't help. While superstars like Nolan Arenado and Paul Goldschmidt were expected to be leaned on, that hasn't been the case for much of this year. It has been everyone else.

When I think about what the Cardinals need to do going forward is to continue to play with a refined sense of confidence in every series they take part of. St. Louis may not catch Milwaukee in the NL Central, but I don't think anybody wants to play them in the NLWCS. It is only two games, but they could be as high as the No. 4 seed, or as low as the No. 6 seed. Atlanta and Milwaukee will hate that.

Overall, baseball is a game of momentum. When it is going great, you feel like the good times are never going to end. When it is going poorly, you feel like you are never going to catch a break. At the end of the day, there is simply too much good baseball culture emanating out of St. Louis for the Cardinals to be down bad for far too long. They may not have a high ceiling, but this is still a run team.

These last two months have been tremendous for Marmol's reputation, so we have to recognize it.