Tag: Oliver Marmol

Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol called out and benched Tyler O’Neill despite an awful send by 3B coach

Or … MAYBE … blame the third base coach?

Major League Baseball managers always like to preach about effort and expectations. But at the same time, it usually takes something blatant for a manager to specifically call out a player to the media.

So, with that in mind, St. Louis Cardinals outfielder Tyler O’Neill probably has reason to be frustrated with manager Oliver Marmol.

After Tuesday’s loss to the Atlanta Braves, Marmol explicitly blasted O’Neill’s effort on the base paths when the Cardinals outfielder was thrown out at home to end a possible rally in the seventh inning. Marmol followed up the strong words by benching O’Neill for Wednesday’s game.

But was the play really due to O’Neill’s hustle — or lack thereof? That’s debatable.

On that seventh-inning play, O’Neill was just rounding third when the Braves’ Ronald Acuña Jr. got ready to throw the ball from right field. Now, Acuña has one of the strongest outfield arms in baseball, and O’Neill ranks in the 97th percentile of sprint speed, according to Statcast. So, he’s extremely fast. But it was a risky send by third base coach Ron Warner — to say the least.

O’Neill did appear to kick it into an extra gear when he saw Acuña preparing to throw, but it wasn’t like he was jogging on the base path. O’Neill himself didn’t agree with Marmol’s assessment, via stltoday.com:

“He was pretty blunt about it. He didn’t think I gave the best effort. I’m out here every day grinding my (butt) off, giving it my all and trying to stay on the field for 160 games. Like I said, I’ve just got to get a better jump next time and get around the base a little quicker and be in there next time.”

But again, that out at home falls on the third base coach more than it should on O’Neill. You have to be aware of who is out there in the outfield, and sending O’Neill there was only going to work if the throw was off.

MLB fans also thought it was odd to see Marmol place the blame publicly on O’Neill.

Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol explained what really caused his fiery exchange with umpire C.B. Bucknor

You could tell the ump LOVED it.

The St. Louis Cardinals had plenty to be happy about when they left Arizona this weekend. They swept the Diamondbacks while riding a seven-game winning streak. Chase Field looked like Busch Stadium. And they’re starting to pull away in the NL Central standings as Albert Pujols chases 700 home runs. 

But … Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol did have one issue with the otherwise successful weekend, and that came courtesy of umpire C.B. Bucknor.

Marmol was ejected in the third inning on Sunday when Bucknor called a first-pitch strike on an obvious inside pitch to Nolan Arenado. The reaction from Arenado said it all, but the fireworks really sparked when Marmol got tossed for complaining about the call. That led to the two shouting at each other from *very* close range.

Marmol definitely got his money’s worth, but Bucknor didn’t exactly try to back down either. The umpire was just as animated as Marmol, which was a bit odd considering Bucknor was the one who missed the call.

After the game, Marmol said what really set him off in the whole exchange was Bucknor’s behavior. According to the Cardinals manager, he took issue with Bucknor’s smirk and how the ump apparently questioned his time in the league.

Though Bucknor doesn’t receive attention at Angel Herndandez’s level, baseball players often name Bucknor among their least favorite umpires. In fact, out of umpires who have worked at least 15 games behind the plate this season, Bucknor is dead last in accuracy at 91.3 percent.

When you combine that poor performance with zero umpire accountability, Marmol’s frustration makes sense.