Oliver Marmol deserves his flowers from Cardinals fans

The Cardinals are sitting pretty in the early going, outpacing the .500 mark with multiple breakout seasons taking effect. In the midst of all the good chaos is one constant: the Redbird skipper. 

Oliver Marmol’s journey as manager

Oliver Marmol has had a tough go while leading the Cardinals. Since taking over in 2022, he’s posted a record of 343-336, good for a winning percentage of .505. That doesn’t sound awful, but in St. Louis, it doesn’t meet expectations. 

In his debut season, the Redbirds were a force. Boasting a record of 93-69, the career renaissance of Albert Pujols, an MVP season from Paul Goldschmidt, and an MVP-caliber season from Nolan Arenado carried the boats. As you might imagine, Marmol didn’t receive much credit for St. Louis’ winning ways that year. 

Fast forward to 2023, and the Cardinals crashed and burned. Suddenly, with nowhere else to direct their blame, fans clamored for the firing of their once-inconsequential manager. 

Marmol recently appeared on KMOX and was asked what he feels will draw fans to buy back into Redbird stock and reemerge at Busch Stadium. 

“I think St. Louis likes watching a team that plays the game the right way, that plays the game hard, that never gives in,” Marmol replied. “Those are the things we can control. I’ll hold myself accountable and let everything else play out, but I think it’s hard not to like this group.” 

Marmol took a hard-hitting question and used it to back his team as any great manager would. He didn’t downplay the expectations of St. Louis; he took them in stride and relayed the team’s tenacity and admiration for playing the game the right way. This is the foundation for the next wave of Cardinal baseball. 

From inconsequential, to scapegoat, to savior? 

After the disastrous 2023 season, St. Louis did what they could to retool for the upcoming year. Unfortunately, 2024 and 2025 were middling seasons that ushered in drastic change at the front office level. 

It’s rare to see a fresh regime stick with a manager through so much change, but that’s exactly what the newly hired President of Baseball Operations, Chaim Bloom, did with Marmol. 

Now, just about a month into 2026, fans are praising Bloom for most of his antics thus far as a decision-maker. His trades that moved former All-Stars like Willson Contreras, Sonny Gray, and Brendan Donovan have looked like great investments, and he’s put together a team that’s played a fun brand of baseball. 

My question is: If fans are going to praise Bloom, and he trusts Marmol, then what’s with the disconnect? 

The media and Marmol 

St. Louis media persons have been outspoken this year about the manager’s unfair criticism from the fanbase. 

When the news first broke of his extension, Brenden Schaeffer, a Cardinals writer for MLB.com and STL Sports Central, was lively about his approval of the deal. 

“Oli Marmol extension makes all the sense in the world. They trust the work he will do to guide the rebuild. The evaluation on that had already happened. Wins and losses in 2026 weren't going to be relevant to the decision, so get it done,” Schaeffer posted on X. 

The Marmol extension is looking better and better by the day. If the Cardinals continue to outperform preseason projections, he’ll likely find himself in competition for Manager of the Year. 

Benjamin Hochman, a columnist at the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, appeared on The Redbird Rundown Podcast with Scott Plaza and Matt Smith. In his cameo, he made it clear: Marmol is misunderstood. 

“People will always come up and ask me skeptically, 'You really like Oli Marmol?’” Hochman said. “What I tell everybody is this: Oli Marmol is one of the smartest baseball minds I’ve ever met. Listening to the way Marmol talks about coaching, leadership, and player development is just really entrancing.” 

Randy Karraker of the Randy Karraker Show and Matrix Midwest didn’t shy away from showing Marmol love either. 

“Do we take for granted what Oli brings to the table? I think a lot of people do,” Karraker said on Matrix Midwest. “I don’t think that they watch the game closely and see the way he’s able to keep players healthy and happy.” 

Recent circumstances have added more value to what Marmol brings to the table. 

“The best thing to happen to Oli Marmol as a manager from a position player standpoint is to have [Nolan] Arenado and [Willson] Contreras get traded. If you have those guys, you have to play them, and you can’t give opportunities to Alec Burleson or Nolan Gorman or whoever. That’s a real problem, and the Cardinals don’t have that problem now.” 

The Boston Red Sox and Philadelphia Phillies both parted ways with their managers this season after awful starts. As of April 30th, the Mets sit at 10-21 and the Red Sox at 12-19. Although the Cardinals had their own free-falls in years past with Marmol, he never once had a payroll like the Mets' or the young talent like the Red Sox to work with. 

It’s one thing to discredit a new manager after his second season. The team was expected to compete, but it was disappointing from the jump. Where else were fans supposed to turn? It’s become something else entirely now to downplay Marmol and what he’s accomplished. When highly esteemed writers and analysts like Hochman, Karraker, and Schaeffer are backing someone, it isn’t for show. And when you add the vote of confidence from Bloom? It becomes a moot point. The Marmol hate is dated. It’s a trend that’s out of style. Disco is dead, folks; get with the times. 

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