Oli Marmol's positive spin after Cardinals lackluster offensive output misses the point

St. Louis Cardinals manager Oli Marmol made some changes to the lineup prior to Monday's game against the New York Mets. On paper, those changes didn't amount to much, but in practice at least one alteration might be here to stay.

Jose Fermin was moved to the leadoff spot on Monday, and registered two hits to set the table for a St. Louis offense which includes Paul Goldschmidt and Nolan Arenado. Fermin, who has experience leading off with Triple-A Memphis this season, stepped perfectly into that same role in St. Louis.

“I mean, that would have been cool if I could have [hit a leadoff home run] here, but even when I did it [with Memphis], I wasn’t thinking about hitting homers,” Fermin said. “For me, it’s about not trying to do too much and put a good swing on pitches. But, hopefully, at some point I can [hit a leadoff homer] here.”

One step forward and two steps back for Oli Marmol and the Cardinals

Three runs is better than none, I suppose, but the overall output from the Cardinals most recent loss to the Mets still won't cut it. Marmol tried to paint a positive picture after the loss.

“I thought early on at-bats weren’t great, but we did string together some there,” Marmol said. “Early on, I just didn’t think the at-bats were extremely competitive. We had that good inning, but then we ran into a pretty good bullpen. We competed better, but it still wasn’t what was needed tonight.”

As you can tell, Marmol is trying to build up his lineup's confidence before two more games in front of the home fans early this week. The Mets are a formidable foe, while the Cardinals are slipping in the NL Central standings.

At 15-20 on the year, St. Louis is right back where they finished last season -- last in the NL Central. At 5.5 games back of the Cubs and Brewers, the Cardinals have some ground to make up, but are going nowhere fast. Surprisingly, their offense, rather than the pitching staff, is their biggest issue.