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

For years, the Cardinals have had a reputation for doing things the right way. They've built some solid ballclubs and had some truly memorable moments.

In 2011, the pieces all came together at the right time and the team got hot, erasing a 10.5-game Wild Card deficit on their way to their 11th World Series title. Not to mention, they were down to their last strike twice in Game 6.

Two years later, the Cards were back in the Fall Classic, falling just two games short against the Red Sox.

Since then, however, the Cardinals seem to have grown complacent. Their mistakes have come back to haunt them this year, especially as it pertains to the way they've built their pitching staff.

Pitching, or lack thereof, has been what's killed the Cardinals' playoff hopes this year and caused the organization to shift its focus to 2024 and beyond. But pitching isn't the only issue the Cardinals have faced in 2023.

The team has made some questionable decisions on and off the field, which led to some bad press. To make matters worse, it was pretty much an issue from the start, whether it was front-office decisions, managerial decisions, or other mistakes.

Either way, all of these mistakes have made them look bad throughout the season. Granted, the team hasn't played well, but the Cardinals also could have handled a lot of situations much better than they ultimately did.

Here are three mistakes the Cardinals have made during the season this year.

Oli Marmol and Tyler O'Neill's Public Spat

The season began on a low note for the Cardinals. But just five games in, there was a bad omen, that being the public disagreement between Oli Marmol and Tyler O'Neill.

I'm not going to take sides on this one, as I think both O'Neill and Marmol made several mistakes here.

Firstly, while I'm sure O'Neill's intent was not to be lazy, he was noticeably running slower on that play than he has typically, and I understand Marmol not being too pleased to hear that O'Neill was doing it to try and stay healthy. It's also a manager's job to hold his players accountable, even when they make mistakes.

At the same time, calling him out publicly was a bad look, and there may be some merit to the fact that O'Neill was trying to be careful. The field was wet due to rain, and O'Neill does have a long history of injuries.

But the whole situation was a mess and a bad look for the organization.

The Willson Contreras Drama

It was one thing after another early on this season. Not long after the Cardinals demoted Walker, Willson Contreras found himself taking a lot of heat.

In early May, the veteran catcher was pulled from the starting catcher spot in favor of Andrew Knizner, moving Contreras to the designated hitter position. They also called up Tres Barrera, who was rarely used and became a waste of roster space.

But the organization handled this situation very poorly, essentially throwing Contreras under the bus and making him the scapegoat. Fortunately, they did away with the idea of using him in the outfield, but everything that John Mozeliak and Oli Marmol said made the situation even worse and continued to stoke the fire, making it clear that they held Contreras responsible for the team's poor pitching.

The puzzling experiment ended relatively quickly, but the organization's decision to move Contreras out of the catcher spot was more reactive than proactive, despite them saying the complete opposite.

The Use Of Taylor Motter

In this wild and wacky season, one thing has stuck out to me the most: the use of Taylor Motter.

The leeway the organization has shown Motter has been nothing short of baffling. There have been times when Motter has hit in favor of somebody else and not come through.

For example, on April 9, the Cardinals put him in to replace Brendan Donovan with the bases loaded against a left-hander, despite Donovan's prior success against lefties. Motter struck out.

He also was at the plate in the ninth inning with the tying run at the plate on August 3, despite Nolan Arenado being available on the bench. Again, Motter struck out, this time to end the game and send the Cardinals to another loss.

I'm in no way saying that Motter is the reason the Cardinals have been so bad this year, but using him over established players is certainly questionable, and he was shown far more leeway than Walker was early in the season, despite Walker actually producing quite well before being sent down. I've felt the same way about the use of Alec Burleson, though he has at least had a few moments of brilliance.

Motter has since been designated for assignment and sent back to Memphis. But that doesn't mean that the organization won't find another reason to bring him back towards the end of the season.