Oli Marmol passes off blame to Cardinals lineup because he doesn't have the answers

The St. Louis Cardinals' 2024 season has been a disaster compared to the expectations that surrounded them during Spring Training. Their offense has been subpar and they have really struggled to put the pieces together.

St. Louis has lost their last five games and sit in last place in the NL Central. They've recently opted to give Paul Goldschmidt a few days to regroup himself as his personal struggles have been overwhelming. Their team batting average of .218 isn't much higher than Goldschmidt's .195 batting average.

Obviously, this level of struggle leaves the blame on the team's manager, right? That's usually how it goes, but Cardinals skipper Oli Marmol has a bit of a different answer when confronted about this .

Cardinals skipper Oli Marmol pushes blame to Cardinals lineup because he doesn't have the answers

"At some point, you just have to do it. It's a hard game. Hitting is hard, but at some point the lineup just has to come together," Marmol said. "At some point, frustration has to turn into a little bit of anger, and you've got to get it done."

This kind of response is almost unheard of in professional sports, but this kind of struggle is also pretty rare.

Marmol is completely within his rights to push the blame to the lineup. At the end of the day, they are the nine guys going to the plate and swinging the bats. Execution revolves completely around how they perform at the plate.

But so much more goes into hitting at the highest level, that this kind of public blaming of the lineup doesn't make much sense. Coaches and managers are in charge of preparing these players to perform at the best of their abilities. To push full blame on the execution by the lineup isn't fair at all.

Not only is it unfair, but it could cause Marmol to lose control of his locker room. This level of publicly calling out his own lineup could very well turn a lot of the players against him. If he wasn't on the hot seat already, Oli Marmol will definitely find himself there if he loses his own locker room.

We're entering some unprecedented times in St. Louis. This 2024 season couldn't have gotten off to a more nightmarish start.