3 reasons Oli Marmol should be on the hot seat, and one reason he shouldn't
By Curt Bishop
In-game decisions by Oli Marmol have missed the mark
Marmol's in-game decisions have been questionable as well. Two of them stand out above the rest.
On April 9, the Cardinals were trailing the Milwaukee Brewers 6-1 in the top of the eighth inning. They had the bases loaded and nobody out for Brendan Donovan. Milwaukee brought in a left-hander, but despite Donovan's prior success against left-handed pitching, Marmol opted to go with a right-handed bat. His choice was none other than Taylor Motter, a career .188 hitter.
Motter struck out and the Cardinals stranded the bases loaded before losing the game. On August 3, Motter came to the plate with the tying run at the plate in the bottom of the ninth with two outs. Willson Contreras, Nolan Gorman, and Nolan Arenado were available on the bench but were not used. Motter struck out to end the game.
Marmol's bullpen decisions have also cost the Cardinals a great many games. On September 2, they were two outs away from a win after John King retired the first man in the ninth inning. Marmol went to Drew VerHagen with the Cards ahead 6-5.
VerHagen proceeded to blow the lead as the Cardinals lost 7-6 to the Pittsburgh Pirates.