The Cardinals' bench construction gives manager Oli Marmol newfound freedom in 2025

Back on June 11th, 2024, St. Louis Cardinals fans were rightfully frustrated by a lifeless 2-1 loss at the hands of the Pittsburgh Pirates, and that contest shed light on a glaring issue that the roster had.

In the bottom of the 7th inning, Nolan Arenado doubled to left field with one out to knock Paul Skenes out of the game and tied 0-0 at that moment, left-handed reliever Aroldis Chapman entered the ballgame with lefties Brendan Donovan and Matt Carpenter due up.

Donovan flew out to deep center field, and Marmol decided to lift Carpenter from the game in favor of a pinch-hitter. Unfortunately, when Marmol looked at his bench, he was faced with choosing one of Jose Fermin, Dylan Carlson, Brandon Crawford, or Ivan Herrera for that spot.

Marmol went with Fermin, and the decision was rightfully questioned at the moment and immediately after the game. But what I found especially interesting at that time was Marmol's response, which indicated he felt like his hands were tied in situations like that due to the lack of options he had off the bench.

I wrote about it at the time, but Marmol was dead-on with his response to Katie Woo's great questions. How the Cardinals chose to construct the roster, like having a guy like Brandon Crawford whose only role was to fill in for Masyn Winn when needed, put him in a tough spot when the game called for more use from his bench. That's how you get a backup like Fermin as the best pinch-hit option in a critical spot of the game.

Marmol has influence on roster decisions, but it is John Mozeliak who makes the final call. Last year, Marmol too often was left with a barren bench, and in today's game, that's not going to fly when the game script calls for substitutions to be made.

We are just two games into the 2025 season as I am writing this, and I think you can already see Marmol's bench constructed in a way that gives him flexibility, no matter what the game calls for.

Oli Marmol is going to be able to give the Cardinals an advantage in big spots based on how his bench is constructed this year.

I have to admit, I probably need to eat my words when it comes to my initial reaction to how the Cardinals have structured their bench. Not because of the results from the first two games of the season, but because of how I've seen Marmol follow the game script thus far and strengthen the Cardinals' chances by how he has used his bench.

In both games so far, Marmol has replaced Jordan Walker and Ivan Herrera in the late innings with Michael Siani and Pedro Pages, strengthening the Cardinals' defense as they look to hold their lead. Siani and Pages both have clear roles with the club and when the team is holding a lead late in the game, Marmol is going to go to them in order to help lock it down.

Left on the bench so far have been Nolan Gorman and Luken Baker, but the game script has not called for them just yet. For example, if that situation from June 11th last year presents itself again, a left-handed reliever coming in to face someone like Alec Burleson or Victor Scott II while the Cardinals are tied or down in the game, Baker gives them an excellent option off the bench to come in and look to do damage. If the Cardinals need left-handed power off the bench, Gorman is there as well.

It's a far more useful bench than last year's unit was. Carpenter and Crawford were frustrating uses of roster spots for the club and usually were not upgrades over what the Cardinals already had on the field. This year, the bench makes sense, especially in terms of how it can maximize the Cardinals' chances while leading a game or give them a shot in the arm as they look to come back or take the lead.

Their bench construction does make it difficult to figure out how to get starts for each of their young players, but the way it is structured does allow for more substitutions in games that can get playing time for bench players, even when they are not starting.

Last year, we saw Marmol manage the Cardinals' bullpen in such a way that it helped them overachieve from what their expected record was last season by seven games. With how the bench is constructed this season, he may be able to have a positive impact on their record once again by deploying players in key spots to help the club out.