Cardinals skipper Oliver Marmol may be an early favorite for Manager of the Year

The St. Louis Cardinals' 17-game winning streak near the end of 2021 solidified former manager Mike Shildt's beloved status among the Cardinals fanbase. Now, as current manager Oli Marmol helps pilot the team to a nine-game winning streak and counting, USA Today sports writer Bob Nightengale complimented Marmol for the team's productivity during a year that Nightengale said was supposed to be a rebuild.

The Cardinals would push back on the wording of "rebuild," but the point is well founded: The team was not expected to compete for a postseason spot, but as the Cardinals find themselves one game out of first place in the division, some hope is sprouting in St. Louis, and Marmol deserves much of the credit.

Marmol has been a major part of the Cardinals' run of success.

Marmol and pitching coach Dusty Blake decided to use a six-man rotation at times in the season to provide starters an extra day of rest over the first month as they got stretched out for the long season. But as the bullpen regularly imploded, Marmol and Blake pivoted, moving the swingman starter, Steven Matz, to a regular bullpen role. With the plethora of days off in May, the Cardinals could afford to make the move and keep their starters on the usual six days of rest. Matz's production has provided some stability to a volatile unit, as has that of Kyle Leahy and new arrival Phil Maton. With the starters going so deep into games lately, the bullpen has also had the benefit of receiving plenty of rest.

The bullpen's drastic turnaround over the past few weeks can't all be credited to Marmol, but in that same vein, Marmol can't receive all of the blame for the bullpen's horrific start to the season. Ryan Fernandez seemed to falter every time he took the mound, and with John King and JoJo Romero also fighting through issues at the time, only a few relievers were able to be trusted. However, they needed to have rest days as well, leaving Marmol's hands tied on several occasions.

Marmol has also learned how to most effectively utilize Miles Mikolas. The soft-tossing right-hander has been effective for most of 2025, save for his second start of the season, and while Mikolas has made legitimate adjustments to his game, Marmol is also limiting his workload. In Mikolas' last appearance, Marmol pulled him after 5.1 innings and just one run allowed, with Mikolas holding a low pitch count of a Chip Caray-friendly 69 pitches thrown. Keeping Mikolas from going three times through the batting order prevents hitters from adapting to his so-so stuff later in the game.

On the other side of the ball, Marmol has been quicker to shuffle the lineup this season than in previous years, moving Willson Contreras down in the order during his early-season struggles and shifting Masyn Winn up to the second spot. The Cardinals have a glut of hitters who have been producing, and Marmol has performed well in his quest to juggle the lineup as needed while adjusting players' time and spot in the lineup as their performance dictates.

Defense has been a major strong point for the Cardinals so far in 2025, and that's not an accident. The Cardinals currently lead the major leagues with 25 defensive outs above average, and much of that can be credited to Marmol's focus on defense-oriented lineups as well as the new coaches he and the front office worked to hire in Jon Jay and Daniel Descalso. Jordan Walker, despite all his problems at the plate, has blossomed in the field, improving from two outs below average in 2024 to one out above average this season, and gave Jay credit for his development.

Some luck has played a part in Marmol's success too. Not only have most of the players been coming through, but the team's decision to move Willson Contreras to first base has paid off handsomely. The move could have been a disaster, either defensively or in the vein of Rafael Devers, where Contreras would not be willing to make the transition to the cold corner. But to Contreras' credit, the former catcher worked diligently during the offseason and has been one run above average at first base.

Marmol has come a long way from his days of head-scratching decisions like using Brandon Crawford as a pinch-hitter in a clutch situation, and if the Cardinals can continue exceeding expectations, Marmol may receive some recognition when voting for Manager of the Year rolls around.