6 people who are on the hot seat after Cardinals' lackluster start to 2024

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The St. Louis Cardinals pulled off a series finale win and an actual series win over the Arizona Diamondbacks with a 5-1 victory Wednesday afternoon. The club is now 11-14 and has a lot of questions left unanswered as baseball completes its first month of the season.

The Cardinals have a day off Thursday as they head to New York to take on the Mets for a three-game set.

The off day gives us time to ponder who may be in the hot seat as we get deeper into the season. The series win feels great, but the Cardinals need some significant changes up top. The team will not have a complete fire sale of the front office, but changes are afoot.

Let's discuss who may have a warmer seat than usual in the next few weeks.

6. Dusty Blake

Blake is doing much better in his second season as the Cardinals' pitching coach. He has turned the staff into a group more focused on making swing-and-miss pitches to fool the opposing batters. Working with the pitchers and catchers on their plan has improved. However, his moves reflect his inexperience as a pitching coach at the Major League level.

Blake seems to work well with seasoned pitchers who already have a plan of how they work - think of the older members of the starting rotation. He appears to just talk to them about the plan and what to do in a situation and the pitchers will go from there.

But, if there is a younger pitcher - think Zack Thompson and Andre Pallate - there is a bit of a disconnect. He doesn't seem to help prepare them for the situations they are getting into when they come into a game. Blake is the head pitching coach and does need to recognize when what he's doing isn't working and adjust.

Thankfully, Thompson and Pallante have each been sent to AAA Memphis to work on things. The two will join a staff in Memphis with many of the organization's top pitching prospects. Darwin Marrero is the pitching coach there and will help them develop a plan to set them up for success when they return to St. Louis.

If young pitchers continue to fail when they come to St. Louis, it may be time to make a change at pitching coach.

5. Gary LaRocque

LaRocque may not be a household name for many Cardinals fans, but he is the assistant general manager and director of player development. LaRocque has been in player development with the Cardinals since the 2014 season.

The Cardinals once had a top-tier farm system, but in recent years, the system has declined, and player development seems to have declined right along with it. It's been many seasons since the Cardinals drafted and brought up a top prospect to see them succeed. The Cardinals last did this with a pitcher some time ago.

Most of the Cardinals' recent top-hitting prospects have succeeded in the minor league system. However, they struggle once they arrive in St. Louis - think Jordan Walker, Masyn Winn, Dylan Carlson, and Nolan Gorman.

LaRocque is probably one of the last people the Cardinals would move on from, but it would be great to see them revamp their player development process. Right now, the Cardinals are drafting great players but need to improve their development.

4. Packy Elkins

If fans want someone fired based on their job title alone, Packy Elkins, the Cardinals' game plan coach, may take the prize.

Bill DeWitt, the Cardinals' chairman, and John Mozeliak, the president of baseball operations, believe in maintaining continuity within the organization. Elkins is an example of that continuity.

Elkins graduated from Belmont University in 2010 and was selected by the Cardinals in the 37th round of that season's first-year player draft. The infielder played for Shildt in Johnson City in 2010, 2011 in Quad Cities, and 2012 in Palm Beach with Jeff Albert as his hitting coach.

Even with Albert and Shildt no longer in the organization, Elkins serves as the continuity of their teachings. As the game plan coach, he must implement a lot of their teachings along the way.

Elkins's duties as game plan coach include splitting time coaching during pregame, working with hitters alongside hitting coach Turner Ward, and previously with Albert. He also assists in the development of advanced scouting.

When you take into consideration all of who Elkins as worked alongside in the Cardinals system, most notably Shildt and Albert, he would be a keeper of the modern Cardinal Way. He continues that just as DeWitt and Mozeliak want to see that legacy carry on.

Fans may see that job title and scoff, but Elkins is a member of the Cardinals staff as long as DeWitt and Mozeliak are still around.

3. Turner Ward

After spending a season as Jeff Albert's assistant, Ward is in his second season as the Cardinals hitting coach.

Ward has been a hitting coach at different levels through several organizations. He's pretty old school, as you'll see him in the dugout, where there is a vast three-ring binder filled with information for the hitters. He is a favorite of Paul Goldschmidt, who he worked with in the Arizona Diamondbacks minor league system.

While he may be a club favorite, he has yet to have the most outstanding results as the Cardinals' hitting coach. Top prospect Jordan Walker has been sent down to AAA Memphis after struggling to get his swing right. Goldschmidt, Nolan Arenado, and Nolan Gorman have all had difficulties finding their swing.

While Walker was sent down, the other struggling hitters continue to work with Ward and assistant hitting coach Brandon Allen while getting supplemental help from teammates, different coaches, and outside resources. The organization hasn't been on one page with hitting for some time, and it shows.

If one coach is definitely on the hot seat, it's Ward. Top prospects come into St. Louis hitting lights out but lose all confidence when seeing Major League pitching. This ongoing issue should have been addressed during the offseason. It wasn't and Cardinals hitters will continue to endure more struggles until they figure things out for themselves. The hitters should have a coach to help them, but unfortunately, they don't seem to get that from one coach in Ward.

2. John Mozeliak

If DeWitt is getting tired of hearing about fans upset about losing and not doing enough in the offseason to fix glaring issues, Mozeliak is definitely on the hot seat.

Mozeliak has been arrogant over the past couple of seasons in his pronouncement that Cardinals fans must remain patient while he fails to address glaring needs for pitching and the outfield. While fans should be patient as the team has its moments of doing well, the glaring problems with hitting, stability in the outfield, consistency for hitters, and dependable, consistent pitching still exist.

If the Cardinals don't find their footing and get on track, will Mozeliak wait until just before the trade deadline to make moves to help the team down the line? Will Mozeliak do right by fans after all of the moves made to make the extra moves now to get a winning product on the field for a playoff run?

A 71-91 finish in 2023 should be unacceptable to Mozeliak. He is a calm individual, and sometimes that can come off as him being aloof and not really caring about what others think of the team he puts on the field.

No one wants a repeat of 2023. Mozeliak should do all he can to make sure the Cardinals avoid the same fate. If he can't make things right, Mozeliak should be on the hot seat.

1. Oli Marmol

Despite being signed to a two-year extension before the start of the 2024 season, Marmol should be on the hot seat. The Cardinals are a historically winning franchise. The team had a terrible 2023 season. Marmol was the manager and leader of that team. He led that team to a 71-91 record.

The Cardinals haven't gotten off to a great start and are 11-14.

The Cardinals had a series of bad luck in 2023. The team needed better pitching and needed more consistency with hitting. A mix of youth and quiet veteran leadership couldn't get on the same page. The team had a manager in Marmol, who publicly criticized players for a perceived lack of hustle in Tyler O'Neill and for not being retired, catching legend Yadier Molina in Willson Contreras. And there were other criticisms.

The manager has been given more veteran leadership around him. He has new starting pitchers, a bolstered bullpen, a great lineup, and a good bench. Marmol could still make better decisions with his pitchers and the line-up. While he's yet to publicly criticize players this season, he's still making comments. Some of his statements to the media after games are real head-scratchers. He said Steven Matz's start on Tuesday was one of his best. Matz lost Tuesday's game after giving up seven earned runs.

How the Cardinals perform over the next few weeks will be key in determining how hot Marmol's seat remains this season. The team is trying hard to get back to winning. They need a leader who will make those crucial decisions to help them along the way to a championship. If the Cardinals hope to get back to their winning culture, they need a winning manager. The next few weeks should help determine if Marmol is that man.

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