Oli Marmol needs to stop giving players "scheduled days off"

19/04/2024 15:00

Something I think everybody has noticed over the past few years is how Oli Marmol tends to give players "scheduled" days off.

We saw it a lot last year for the final games of road series. Guys like Paul Goldschmidt, Nolan Arenado, and Willson Contreras got days off and Marmol opted to use guys like Taylor Motter.

This never worked, and when Marmol would do this, the Cardinals would almost always lose.

I get that sometimes guys need days off and that a getaway day here or there isn't the worst thing a manager can do, but Oli does this way too much, especially when series wins are on the line, and it gets frustrating. There are also so many examples of Oli doing this when it really wasn't necessary.

Marmol needs to stop with getaway days

It turns out that Masyn Winn had been dealing with a back issue, which kept him out of the lineup for a few days.

If a guy truly needs a day, that's fine. But Marmol uses getaway days and scheduled days off way too much. Fans pay money to see the best players like Goldschmidt, Arenado, and Contreras, not Taylor Motter, Alec Burleson, or even Brandon Crawford.

I get that late last year, the Cardinals were out of contention. But it almost seems like Marmol isn't trying to win when he does this. It shows that he doesn't care about winning that particular game when he knowingly and willingly puts a bad lineup out on the field.

We can't be sure that it's entirely his call, as he pretty much does exactly what John Mozeliak tells him to do, but he should at least try his best to win games. Getaway days and scheduled days off aren't the way to do it. What it does is send a bad message to the fanbase.

One example of this was during a game against the Twins last August. Yes, the Cardinals were well out of the race, but with the tying run at the plate and two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning, Oli chose to roll with Motter. On the bench, he had Arenado, Contreras, and Nolan Gorman. Motter struck out.

No matter the circumstances, a manager should always be playing his best players unless there is a dire need for a day off. In Winn's case, it's okay now that we know what he was dealing with.

Again, I understand that there are times when players need days off. The problem with this is that Marmol tends to give all the best players the day off on the same day. This rarely leads them to a win. In fact, I only remember Mike Shildt doing this once while he was in charge.

What's frustrating is that Marmol always has a defense for it as well, which is something along the lines of trying to keep everybody fresh. But that shouldn't come at the expense of winning.

You can't claim you're trying to win and constantly do this in series finales. They didn't do it on Wednesday against the A's, but there is a reason the Cardinals are 0-6 in series finales so far. Getaway days should be few and far between. They aren't a recipe for success, and it's time Oli got a clue.