Four mistakes the Cardinals have made this season that stand out above the rest

Sending Jordan Walker Down

Not too long after O'Neill and Marmol's public disagreement, the Cardinals found themselves at the center of controversy again.

On April 26, they sent Jordan Walker down to Triple-A Memphis despite a hot start to the season that included a 12-game hitting streak. The team's defense for it was to give other outfielders a chance to get some at-bats and clear up the logjam.

However, Walker was hitting .274 and was by far producing better than any of the team's other outfielders. The Cardinals sent him down to try and adjust his swing and hit the ball in the air more frequently.

Sure enough, Walker struggled at Triple-A at first. He later got hot and mentioned afterward that he had to simply go back to his original approach at the plate, which he said helped him heat up.

This situation was ultimately an embarrassment for the organization and exposed the many flaws with player development and over-reliance on analytics.