ST. LOUIS – With the St. Louis Cardinals on the brink of their first losing season in 15 years and nearly eliminated from playoff contention, the team will hang onto its current skipper for at least another year.
Oli Marmol will return for his third year as the Cardinals manager in 2024. Lead executive John Mozeliak confirmed the decision Friday to multiple media members.
“I do support him. I know he’ll be back next year. I think the job he does is good,” Mozeliak told The Athletic’s Katie Woo.
Marmol has managed to a 158-150 record in two seasons with roughly two weeks remaining in the Cardinals’ 2023 schedule. A longtime coach in the Cardinals organization, Marmol was promoted full-time to big-league manager after the team parted ways with Mike Shildt in 2021.
The Cardinals will soon conclude a troubled season marred by untimely injuries and prolonged slumps, and Marmol has dealt with a fair share of criticism.
Just five games into the season, he questioned the baserunning effort of Tyler O’Neill amid a lengthy injury history, and O’Neill claimed he made a mistake, but not for lack of effort. Marmol was also a key spokesperson of team decisions briefly remove veteran Willson Contreras from his catcher’s role and to send prized rookie Jordan Walker down to the minor leagues for more at-bats.
In a 2023 season with many ups and downs, Marmol has also been ejected six times, second-most of any NL manager this season.
Through the odd year, many players, including All-Star third baseman Nolan Arenado, have reportedly been supportive of Marmol and acknowledged there is room for improvement performance wise to back their manager.
Marmol has one year remaining in a three-year contract he initially signed with the Cardinals upon his promotion as MLB manager.
