3 takeaways from the Cardinals' dreadful 2023 season

Drama aplenty

Sadly, the Cardinals season was largely marred by drama. It all began early on in the season when Tyler O'Neill and Oli Marmol had a very public disagreement following the Cards manager's criticism over his outfielder's supposed lack of hustle.

O'Neill was thrown out at the plate by Ronald Acuna Jr. on April 4, and Marmol publicly stated that O'Neill's effort was "unacceptable."

While O'Neill definitely should have been running harder, Marmol crossed the line by making it public. But that wasn't even the end of it.

The situation with Willson Contreras was also very public. The Cardinals had pulled him from the starting catcher spot in May, and it really seemed as if they were using Contreras as a human shield, essentially throwing him under the bus and not taking responsibility for their pitching woes.