Skip Schumaker comment shouldn't scare Cardinals away from Oli Marmol replacement

On Sunday, the Miami Marlins fell into an early hole against the New York Mets thanks to the struggles of starter Sixto Sanchez, who allowed four runs in the first inning.

Following the game, manager Skip Schumaker didn't hold back when assessing his starter's performance.

"I don't know, but that's unacceptable in the first inning," said Schumaker. "So, if he wants to start at this level, he's going to have to be better in the first inning. It's just what it is. We had a heart-to-heart underneath and so did Stott. He was better obviously, the second through the fourth inning, but he's put us in a hole early. And at this level, it's tough to come back from four runs every single time."

With Schumaker likely out of Miami at the end of the season, some are looking at him as a potential replacement for St. Louis Cardinals' manager Oli Marmol, who previously called out Tyler O'Neill to the media in 2023.

Some may view this quote from Schumaker as a turn-off. However, this shouldn't scare the Cardinals away from looking at him as a replacement.

Schumaker's comments shouldn't be turn-off for Cardinals

While some are obviously surprised by Schumaker's comments and believe that they should be a turn-off for the Cardinals, you have to look closer. The situations with Schumaker and Marmol are different situations.

Firstly, Marmol didn't have a private conversation with O'Neill prior to making those comments. And while O'Neill made a mistake by not running as hard as he could have, Marmol had every opportunity to have a private conversation with his outfielder prior to speaking with the media.

Marmol also doubled down on the situation the following day and continued to make things worse.

In Schumaker's case, Sanchez has been continually struggling in the first inning, and those struggles have put the Marlins in early holes that are tough to climb out of. Also, Schumaker made sure to have a conversation with Sanchez about the situation before talking to the media about it.

Now that it's been addressed, it is likely water under the bridge at this point. Schumaker sent the message in a proper way and told Sanchez what he needed to do in order to stay at the Major League level. Rather than being blindsided like O'Neill was, Sanchez received the message in a way that allows for him to self-reflect and improve.

As such, this comment shouldn't scare the Cardinals away from Schumaker. Unlike Marmol, Schumaker has a Manager of the Year Award to his name and a solid track record. Schumaker is clearly better at communicating with his players, which is something the Cardinals are going to need with their next manager now that Marmol is on the hot seat.