Oli Marmol's decision-making burns Cardinals again as sweep looms vs. Brewers

Not that this is a change since the start of the 2023 season but things are truly awful right now for the St. Louis Cardinals. After an offseason that renewed hope for a bounce-back 2024 campaign following the disastrous year wherein the Redbirds finished 20 games below .500, a third straight loss to the rival Milwaukee Brewers on Saturday night dropped the club to 15-24 on the year.

The loss in Milwaukee is not just the third consecutive at the hand of the Brew Crew, but the Cardinals have now lost seven games in a row, going from just two games under .500 this season to now sitting nine games below that mark and nine games out of first place in the NL Central. And it feels like the shoe is about to (or maybe has to) drop for manager Oli Marmol sooner rather than later.

Looking a bit deeper at Saturday's loss, you can pinpoint the mismanagement from Marmol that has driven Cardinals fans crazy for some time now pretty acutely.

And it all started with Marmol and the Cardinals trying to protect a lead.

Oli Marmol keeps digging his grave deeper with Cardinals

Kyle Gibson pitched quite well for the Cardinals as the starter of the third game in the four-game set against the Brewers, and brought a 3-1 lead for St. Louis into the bottom of the sixth inning. At that point, though, the veteran righty was already at 88 pitches. Especially on May 11, his leash should've been short, or Marmol should've gone to the bullpen to begin with.

Instead, he sent Gibson out for the sixth inning. That frame began with a broken-bat single from Willy Adames before the starter then walked Jake Bauers. A hit and a walk with no outs would've been enough for most managers to pull Gibson, but not for Marmol and the Cardinals. Instead, he stayed out to face Rhys Hoskins, who drew a nine-pitch walk to load the bases, which is when Gibson was finally pulled.

A testament to JoJo Romero, the Cardinals got out of that inning with minimal damage as the only run scored was on a hit-by-pitch, trimming St. Louis' lead to 3-2 but still keeping the Redbirds in front. That, however, brings us to the other Marmol decision that was glaring in hindsight.

Prior to the bottom of the sixth inning, Marmol tried to go all in on protecting the lead, replacing Alec Burleson in right field by moving Lars Nootbaar over from center and then putting Michael Siani in center for his defense. So when Andrew Kittredge struggled in the seventh inning and gave up the lead with a three-run bomb conceded to Hoskins, that switch felt devastating.

You see, Marmol put Siani in for his defense to try and protect the lead. And not only did Siani not come up with the home-run robbery of Hoskins at the wall -- which is not a slight on him, it's a tough play, but just the reality of the situation -- but they then had the worse option at the plate between Siani and Burleson to now try and mount a comeback amid a struggling offense. Marmol did try to put a band-aid on that by pinch-hitting for Siani with Dylan Carlson, but that was fruitless as Carlson remained hitless since his return from the IL.

And that was basically all she wrote as the Brewers took the game, 5-3.

Marmol's decision-making at every turn has been under fire at every turn and for good reason. Saturday was just another example in the growing list of reasons why the manager is not qualified for his pots and actively hurting the Cardinals. Now, major changes appear on the horizon, both with Marmol and the roster, because it's looking like this is a situation that needs to be blown up.

Who's to say if not having Marmol in the clubhouse or making calls for the Cardinals would solve that. One thing that's undeniable, though, is that the manager isn't making things any better in St. Louis.