Cardinals' Oli Marmol urges fans to keep showing up in 2025

St. Louis Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol had a recent sit-down with beat reporter Katie Woo and former closer Trevor Rosenthal to discuss the current state of the club and expectations for the season. The entire interview is worth the full listen, as Marmol explains how the offseason has progressed and what he is looking forward to personally for the season.

Throughout the discussion with Woo and Rosenthal, Marmol was very open and honest when talking about the Arenado saga and the young lineup, but he ended the podcast by making a plea to the St. Louis faithful. Leading up to the final question, Woo asked how Oli and his staff will continue to push and develop the young talent making their way through the Major Leagues.

Marmol's response echoed some of his early statements from the offseason when discussing his staff, saying, "Each one of these staff members is extremely passionate about teaching, and that's important. That is where they find their why. I love teaching."

Helping the budding stars in the Cardinals lineup is going to take priority for the coaching staff, as the upcoming season will show the organization what they have in players like Nolan Gorman and Jordan Walker. He specifically mentions former players Jon Jay and Daniel Descalso really accepting their roles and pushing the young players to maximize their potential. The main takeaway with the staff, though, was that everyone brought in was there for a reason. Marmol states that he trusts the coaches to do their job, which will allow him to set out time where he can be available to the players. Earlier in the discussion, he mentioned that he did not always feel that he was doing his best to be accessible to the players and that this new staff will let him have a more open-door policy.

Woo and Rosenthal continued to praise Marmol's handling of the offseason and the disappointing previous seasons, while he returned the favor to the city of St. Louis. The Cardinals are the only organization he has known, both as a player and a coach, as he enters his 19th season with the team in some capacity. He shouted out the fans when he was asked about the best part of being in St. Louis and applauded their consistent desire to put out great teams.

""The city only cares about the St. Louis Cardinals. And that's no disrespect to anything else that's happening in this city. But that's what this city is about.""

Cardinals manager Oli Marmol

To end the sit-down, Woo asked the Cardinals manager to share his message to the fans. Marmol admitted that the offseason and transition plan has not gone as expected, but he still holds a lot of excitement for the team this season. With the number of young players expected to see meaningful time, Oli urged the fans to continue showing up. While fans will immediately fight back on that idea, stating their unwillingness to support the front office during this strange period, Marmol made a great point that he wants the fans to set an example for what it means to play in Busch Stadium.

Despite the expected turmoil around the team, Marmol asks the fans to keep "filling up that stadium regardless of what's going on so that these young players know what it feels like to play in St. Louis. So they understand what it feels like to play in front of Cardinal Nation." He specifically mentions players like Alec Burleson, Masyn Winn, Walker, and Ivan Herrera and continues on saying "it's a drug [seeing a full stadium]... I remember looking at my wife like, this is all I want. This is what it's about right here."

""I want them to experience that version of Cardinal Nation, we're shooting for that, playing in front of this style of fan base, packed house, that excitement, that energy. Because it's an exciting group and they're hungry.""

Marmol

So fans, even if you disagree with the front office's handling of the current roster, head out to Busch Stadium and support the future of the Cardinals. Show the players what it is really like to play in St. Louis and earn the title as "The Best Fans in Baseball."