Oli Marmol opens up about one situation early in his career that he regrets

At this point in his career, Oliver Marmol is becoming a bit of an experienced manager. Since being hired prior to the 2022 season to be the manager of the St. Louis Cardinals, Marmol has managed 602 games. He has a 305-297 record in that time for a .507 winning percentage.

Having managed in over 600 games, Marmol has had to make tens of thousands of decisions and answer thousands of questions. Surely he has regrets or things he would like to do over. Perhaps it's a pitcher change. Maybe it's shifting his defense too aggressively. I'm sure he regrets pinch hitting for a player here and there.

But if he were asked about a valid point of criticism he's received in his career, how would he answer?

Luckily, BK and Ferrario of 101 ESPN asked Oli this question courtesy of a fan, and Marmol answered it quite honestly.

St. Louis Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol wishes he could redo the Tyler O'Neill debacle of 2023.

In just his second year in the majors, Oliver Marmol was already tasked with repeating a division title and a postseason berth. The stress on him was probably greater than several of his peers. Just one year prior, Marmol had a lineup riddled with legacy Cardinals like Albert Pujols, Yadier Molina, and Adam Wainwright.

Only Wainwright remained entering the 2023 season, and the rest of the roster included MVP candidates Paul Goldschmidt, Nolan Arenado, and newly signed free agent Willson Contreras along with rising youngsters such as Brendan Donovan, Nolan Gorman, Lars Nootbaar, and Jordan Walker.

Sandwiched between these two groups was Tyler O'Neill, who was a top-10 MVP candidate just two years prior.

O'Neill's calling card was his power and raw tools. His muscles budged in his shirt, and his home run trot was speedier than some players' sprint speed to beat out a single or steal a bag. O'Neill was a bit of an injury-prone player, but his hustle was rarely if ever in doubt.

Early in the 2023 season, the Atlanta Braves came to town. Entering play on April 4th, the Cardinals were 2-2. The season was still in its very early stages, and players were getting their feet wet.

With men on first and second and two out, Brendan Donovan lined a single to Ronald Acuna Jr., the eventual MVP in the National League. Acuna fielded the ball comfortably and rifled a throw home.

Tyler O'Neill rounded third base to come home and score. Pop Warner, the club's third base coach, had his arm in a full windmill, sending O'Neill around the corner. Unbeknownst to O'Neill, Ronald Acuna's throw was a strike, and Tyler O'Neill was out by a good three or four steps.

Review of the video shows that O'Neill might have rounded third base slower than he normally would, but the send by Warner was questionable to begin with knowing Acuna's arm strength. This throw ended the inning, and the Cardinals would go on to lose the game 4-1.

After the game, the second-year manager called out his outfielder. "We’ve got a lot of guys playing really hard and that’s not our style of play as far as the effort rounding the bag there. It’s unacceptable."

Tyler O'Neill sat the next day. He responded promptly to his manager's effort comments.

"I came up through the minor leagues and into the big leagues playing hard, playing scrappy and that's who I am. That's my character and I don't ever want anyone to take that away from me," O'Neill told reporters.

"These conversations definitely could have been had in-house and not gotten out loose like they have. It should have been handled a little differently in my opinion but who's to say."

Fast forward two and a half years later, and Oli Marmol, wiser and with more experience, expressed some regret in how he handled the situation. "I think some of (the criticism) has been fair, and I have been able to re-assess certain ways of doing things in order to try to not catch as much of it," said Marmol in an interview with Brandon Kiley and Alex Ferrario of 101 ESPN.

"When you put a camera in someone's face postgame and you have three to five questions asked, sometimes you can be a little prickish, and people just assume that is who you are, which is far from it," continued Marmol.

"I feel like the way I handled certain things, and I'll say it, you take the (Tyler O'Neill) thing, I thing that negatively impacted a lot of things. So, if you were to handle that differently publicly, I think there's a different perception of you and your personality."

Clearly, Marmol regrets how he handled that situation. He never expressed regret for wanting O'Neill to hustle more, but he clearly wishes he would have held back some of his thoughts with media members after the game.

Having a private conversation with O'Neill after the game would have been ideal. However, the incident is now water under the bridge.

In an interview with Foul Territory after signing with the Boston Red Sox in the 2024 season, O'Neill said everyone has moved past it. "I think in the moment I handled it the right way. Obviously, you don't want to create any division like that," said O'Neill. "It was quite the situation for sure. I'm happy it's all behind us. Oli and I were able to move past it. We ended on good terms out there out there, so that I'm very thankful for."