Oli Marmol says the St. Louis Cardinals offense is “elite”

Manager Oli Marmol says the St. Louis Cardinals offense is “elite” and through two games in 2022, he looks like he’s onto something.

Early on this season, the St. Louis Cardinals are not hiding their belief in their offense. Manager Oli Marmol and president of baseball operations John Mozeliak have both referred to it as the unit that would surprise people the most.

On Sunday, with Marmol battling the flu, Tom Ackerman of KMOX Sports reached out to the manager to see if he wanted to pass along an update on his status to the radio broadcast today. “Yeah,” Marmol responded. “We have an elite offense.”

That’s the strongest public comment that the organization has made all season about its offense. It’s hard not to have that sort of belief, especially as the lineup on Sunday is as follows: Dylan Carlson, Paul Goldschmidt, Tyler O’Neill, Corey Dickerson, Paul DeJong, Yadier Molina, Harrison Bader and Tommy Edman.

But the fact that Marmol gave that answer in response to a question about his health and status for Sunday’s game … awesome. It’s a drastic shift from the Mike Shildt era and comments like that are surely going to continue to reinvigorate the Cardinals’ clubhouse, especially after their first two games have made the unit look like a juggernaut.

It remains to be seen when Marmol will return to the Cardinals. He tested negative for COVID-19, but the team is keeping him away from the dugout out of abundance of caution, with bench coach Skip Schumaker assuming managerial duties. But with an offense like that, Schumaker’s job is that much easier.

Through two games, Marmol looks right in believing his team has an elite offense. Maintaining that pace will be crucial in determining whether the Cardinals dethrone the Brewers atop the NL Central or have another repeat of what happened last year.