Willson Contreras pitiful blunder shouldn't mask Cardinals real problem

The St. Louis Cardinals fell in their series finale against the New York Mets on Sunday afternoon. The Cardinals start to the season leaves much to be desired for Oli Marmol's group, but they actually played quite well in Queens against a good Mets team, even taking the first two games.

Unfortunately, the final game will leave a bad taste in their mouths. St. Louis would eventually lose in extra innings. After the Cardinals took a 2-1 lead over the Mets in the 11th inning, Contreras walked to put another man on base. St. Louis had a chance to extend their advantage, but Contreras appeared to forget how many outs there were and was doubled off first on a Nolan Arenado pop-up.

Contreras is an established veteran, and although he's not a threat on the basepaths, it's not a good sign that he's so susceptible to a little league mistake.

Should Cardinals fans be overly concerned about Willson Contreras mistake?

As frustrating as Contreras mistake was in the moment, the Cardinals still left the top of the 11th with the lead. They had every opportunity to win in the bottom of the frame, but Matthew Liberatore gave up a walk-off home run to Mark Vientos.

Contreras flaw shouldn't mask the elephant in the room. This loss is an indictment on Oli Marmol and, by default, John Mozeliak. Marmol's teams routinely struggle with the little things, whether it be baserunning or defensive blunders. He also chose to stick with Liberatore in the 11th despite the young lefty having thrown three innings of work already that afternoon. Perhaps a pitching change was in order? As FanSided's Zach Rotman wrote on Sunday, Marmol's logic was flawed.

"Liberatore has pitched well out of the bullpen this season but hadn't gone more than two innings in an outing before Sunday. Marmol was intent on using him until the game ended, whether the Cardinals won or lost. That ended up backfiring," Rotman wrote.

Marmol is willing to stick to his guns to a fault. While Contreras' mistake will get plenty of headlines, Marmol deserves just as much blame.