The St. Louis Cardinals' lone award winner at the end of the year may surprise fans

Oliver Marmol's job was quite difficult from the start of the 2025 season.

He was tasked with balancing various goals and tasks from a variety of people. He had to find time for young players like Jordan Walker, Nolan Gorman, and others while also making the team competitive. Let's not forget him looking out for his own job security with a new boss coming in after the 2025 season. He was supposed to do all of this with a roster that lost Paul Goldschmidt, Lance Lynn, Kyle Gibson, and Andrew Kittredge and added only Phil Maton in free agency.

The St. Louis Cardinals were not predicted in the preseason to be a playoff team. In fact, many outlets had them as a bottom-third team in baseball. That was fair. After all, they lost several key players who were being replaced by young and relatively unproven players.

Instead of rolling over and proving those skeptics right, the Cardinals players have come out and posted a record nine games above .500, good enough for the last Wild Card spot in the playoffs.

The St. Louis Cardinals are winning, and Oliver Marmol would be the National League Manager of the Year if the season ended today.

Bob Nightengale of USA Today first posited this idea. "If the Cardinals were supposed to step back and rebuild this year, letting the Cubs run away from the pack in the NL Central, someone forgot to tell Marmol, who has his team squarely in playoff contention with a 45-38 record," said Nightengale. Since the publication of this article, the Cardinals have added two wins to their total and swept the Cleveland Guardians.

The Cardinals enter the final day of June with a 47-38 record, and they're only 2.5 games behind the Chicago Cubs for first place in the National League Central. This isn't how things were supposed to go for the Cardinals this year. They were supposed to be a fringe-.500 team with limited postseason aspirations by the end of June. They were supposed to be sellers at the deadline.

Oliver Marmol is at least partially responsible for the team's success, and he deserves to be recognized accordingly. A manager's effect on a team is difficult to quantify. He can make the right decision that ends poorly. He can make the wrong decision that ends up doing well. These are grown men playing a game in the end, and they affect the game far more than a manager does. His job is to set players up for success.

A manager's job is also to inspire his players. While we aren't able to be in the dugout, the team's resilience and ability to come back late in games this year should be a testament to his ability to inspire those around him. Whether those outside the organization like him should not matter to Marmol.

Marmol isn't doing this alone; he's been aided greatly by hitting coach Brant Brown and assistant coach Jon Jay. However, it was Marmol who pushed for those two men to be brought onto his staff. He was wise enough to surround himself with good leaders.

The 2025 season is just over halfway through. There's plenty of time left, but the Cardinals and Oliver Marmol have made their stamp on this season already. If the Cardinals can stay in the playoff picture, expect Oliver Marmol to be one of the top candidates for National League Manager of the Year.

Let it also be known that if he does win this award, he'll probably be back for the 2026 season. Prepare yourselves if that thought bothers you.