Cardinals News: Frustrations reemerge in series sweep

Effective pitching and timely hitting have often haunted the Cardinals. The pesky issues reemerged in the club's series against the Braves.

The Cardinals were swept by the Braves, losing Monday 8-4, losing again on Tuesday 4-1, and on Wednesday 5-2.

On Monday, Jake Woodford gave up home runs to Austin Riley, Ozzie Albies, and Ronald Acuna Jr in the first two innings of work. Nolan Arenado ground into a force out in the Cardinals half of the first inning to tie the score at one before Woodford gave up the homers to Albies and Acuna.

Down 6-1 at the end of the second inning, the Cardinals would have to pull together some runs. Jordan Walker singled in the fourth inning to score Nolan Gorman. Brendan Donovan hit a ground out, allowing Tyler O'Neill to score, bringing the overall score to 6-3 Braves.

With Jordan Hicks on in the seventh, Matt Olson singled to score Acuna. Travis d'Arnaud doubled to score Olson, bringing the score to 8-3.

In the bottom of the seventh inning, Paul Goldschmidt hit his first home run of the season on a fly to left-center field, bringing the score to 8-4. Goldschmidt's blast traveld 398 feet at 105.8 mph.

On Tuesday, the Braves were again home-run happy. Austin Riley hit another home run on a fly to left-center field, driving in Acuna. In the second inning, Orlando Arcia hit a home run on a fly to left field. In the third inning, Sean Murphy singled on a grounder to left field, allowing Travis d'Arnaud to score.

Steven Matz pitched 5.1 innings giving up ten hits, four earned runs, a walk, and two home runs. He did strike out seven batters. Matz is a bottom-of-the-rotation pitcher and does his part. It would have been great to have a better outing, but he was able to get through five innings and save the bullpen. Drew VerHagen pitched 1.2 innings, giving up a hit and striking out two batters. Here's hoping VerHagen can become a reliable long-relief option this season.

Andre Pallante pitched an inning, striking out a batter. It's nice to see him continue on the path of pitching in any situation asked of him. Giovanny Gallegos pitched the ninth inning, giving up a hit while striking out one. Typically shutdown stuff from Gallegos.

In the fourth inning, the Cardinals finally got on the board thanks to a single off the bat to Willson Contreras allowing Dylan Carlson to score. Contreras was thrown out at the second base, unsuccessfully testing the arm of Acuna.

On Wednesday, Miles Mikolas was greeted with more of the same frustrations in the first inning. He gave up a double to Matt Olson, allowing Ronald Acuna Jr. to score. Austin Riley singled, to score Olson. Albies knocked a sacrifice fly to score Riley.

In the second inning, Olson hit a home run to center field. In the fourth inning, Olson hit a double to right field, scoring Acuna.

We'll discuss how the Cardinals got their runs below.

It was quite a series for the Braves but incredibly frustrating for the Cardinals as they found many of their issues from seasons past come back to haunt them.

Cardinals pitching concerns return

Over the offseason, Cardinals president of baseball operations John Mozeliak said he planned to increase salary for the 2023 seasons. Fans believed this was a signal the team would finally go out and sign a top-tier starting pitcher.

Unfortunately, not a single top-tier caliber pitcher was added over the offseason. This forces the Cardinals to rely on pitchers that have been generally frustrating in hopes that they have finally turned the corner and will miraculously be better.

One of those pitchers the Cardinals have been forced to rely on is Jake Woodford. He has taken the rotation spot of Adam Wainwright, who is on the injured list due to a groin injury. For some reason, Manager Oli Marmol likes and trusts Woodford.

That is hard to understand, especially after Monday. He pitched 4.1 innings, giving up seven hits, six earned runs, three walks, and three home runs. He did strike out three batters. He now has an ERA of 12.46.

Speaking of high ERAs, Jordan Hicks has not had an impressive start to the 2023 season. While he is allowed to throw pitches over 100 mph in hopes they will be effective, Hicks is missing the mark. In his third game of the season Monday, he threw two innings of work, giving up three hits, one walk, and two earned runs. He did strike out one batter.

Hicks has gotten off to an incredibly frustrating start out of the bullpen. It will be curious to see how Marmol and pitching coach Dusty Blake move forward with Hicks. Hicks is a good, young man with loads of potential. But, throwing at those high speeds without control, and not finding command otherwise is a recipe for disaster we're already witnessing.

It would have been ideal to have addressed pitching, starting, and relief, this past offseason. Now the Cardinals are forced to make do with what they have in hopes Mozeliak pulls the trigger on a trade deadline move.

Marmol calls out O'Neill for lack of hustle

Tyler O'Neill is known for hustling, running at full speed, and making plays with the greatest of ease. So a perceived lack of effort in rounding third to score in the seventh inning Tuesday and manager Oli Marmol's criticism of it is a bit shocking.

O'Neill pulled up as he rounded third base, which allowed him to be thrown out at home to end the inning and kill off some momentum the Cardinals hoped to gain in a possible comeback effort.

O'Neill has suffered hamstring issues in recent seasons, forcing the slugger to change his workouts and focus more on running and plyometrics. He did this to stay healthy and in action during the season, rather than on the injured list.

According to reporting from MLB.com's John Denton, Marmol criticized O'Neill's effort saying it isn't the Cardinals' style of play, calling the effort "unacceptable." As conditions were rainy at the time of the play in the game, the media inquired if O'Neill was slowing to avoid injury due to the wet conditions. Marmol countered that this was not a situation in the players' judgment, noting that third base coach Pop Warner is there for a reason. "Your effort's 100 percent until you're told [otherwise]."

Seems a bit harsh from Marmol.

The lack of effort is not usual for O'Neill. He's always hustled which has gotten him injured in the past.

On Wednesday, Marmol doubled down on his criticism of O'Neill, who was not in the starting lineup. Here's a tweet from The Athletic's Katie Woo regarding Marmol's comments on the lineup:

O'Neill noted the unusual criticism from Marmol, and while he disagrees, he doesn't want to be thought of as not hustling.

This is just a terrible look. Marmol addressed O'Neill directly about the issue. That apparently wasn't enough, so he went to the media. O'Neill disagrees. Marmol doubles down. O'Neill still disagrees and wishes it had been handled differently.

Marmol is coming off as petty in this situation. You have to wonder how O'Neill's teammates feel about the situation. Are they put off? Should they have been approached about talking to O'Neill rather than Marmol going to the media?

The issue should have been kept private. Instead, the issue was made public. This should serve as an incentive for a monster breakout for O'Neill. Otherwise, it could bring further frustrations the team doesn't want. With a day off before a three-game set against the Milwaukee Brewers, Marmol, and O'Neill should work things out away from the spotlight. No more drama.