How is Oliver Marmol communication still an issue for 2025 St. Louis Cardinals?

Communication remains an issue for the St. Louis Cardinals. Manager Oliver Marmol can't seem to help himself.

The Cardinals lost the final game of a tough road trip to the Atlanta Braves, 4-1, on Wednesday. Marmol took the loss hard. Reporters questioning the moves he made with the bullpen will create frustration. He seemed to exacerbate the situation with his defense.

According to Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, “This is who we’ve got, and we’ve got to get them back on track. ... There’s nothing coming from down below where it’s going to change what is going on up here. We need to improve these players, and the only way to do that is for them to pitch. We’re going to keep going with them. We have to continue to get on the other side of this.”

The comment shows an absolute lack of respect for his players. "This is who we've got" elicits such disrespect for his bullpen. These are the cards he's been dealt. He has to use them and will continue to use them to improve, because we have no other options.

This is precisely why fans were concerned that the only move the Cardinals' front office made this offseason was the signing of Phil Maton, before Spring Training. The promise from the front office was to get younger players more involved.

"This is who we've got," acknowledges the lack of moves, the lack of fresh talent at the major league level, but doesn't try to make the best of the situation. He's not using the younger pitchers who are in the minor leagues. He continues to use Ryan Fernandez and Jojo Romero, who are both struggling.

Matt Svanson has only been used in one inning since being recalled from Triple-A Memphis on April 16. Svanson was acquired from the Toronto Blue Jays in the 2023 Trade Deadline deal for Paul DeJong.

Marmol seemingly doubled down. According to MLB.com's John Denton, Marmol added, “If we’re going to be as reactive with these bullpen arms [with possible demotions], why not send some of these position players out?”

Marmol's statement makes zero sense. He appears to be deflecting attention from the bullpen woes to create problems in other areas where there aren't any. The Cardinals demoted Michael Siani this week to make room for Masyn Winn's return.

Is he wanting to move the young players he is giving an opportunity to, like Thomas Saggasee or Victor Scott II? Their production is such that a larger fan revolt would occur if Marmol were involved in prompting them to take this action. The young players have been working hard and improving. They have been given a chance and are making good on the opportunities.

Communicating during rough patches isn't an area where Marmol has shown improvement. If he keeps up this rhetoric, it will be interesting to see how it is handled. It has to be devastating for the players to hear this from their manager. Will John Mozeliak talk to Marmol? Are they on the same page? Will Mozeliak keep Marmol through his last season and let Chaim Bloom handle it next season? Will Bill DeWitt Jr. and Bill DeWitt III step in to help the team?

It's frustrating to see this communication issue reappear. Something has to improve. Unfortunately, it will likely continue through the season.