In his team's first game following the break for the MLB All-Star Game, Cardinals' manager Oliver Marmol boldly declared that he wants his organization to make a playoff push so that his young players can feel what it's like to be in the playoffs.
A Cardinals franchise still debating its direction before the MLB Trade Deadline – whether to fortify the team with additions for a playoff push or to sell off veterans for prospects who could pay off years from now – had manager Oliver Marmol boldly voice his wishes on Friday night.
As the Cardinals were in the process of beating the Dbacks 5-4 and moving back into a tie for the National League’s final Wild Card slot, Marmol spoke of his desire to see the Cardinals do everything possible to get the franchise back into the playoffs for the first time since 2022. After all, Marmol stressed, a young and feisty Cardinals club that has defied expectations all season and improbably has 17 one-run victories among its 51 deserves to have its front office fighting alongside of it and working to make the team one that can compete for a spot in the playoffs.
“When you look at our player plans and our guys continuing to grow in their respective areas, we’re also trying to make sure that we’re getting better every day as a group,” Marmol told Cardinals TV on Friday night during his team’s first game back following the break for the MLB All-Star Game. “That’s how we got to this point and that’s how we’re giving ourselves a shot. I’d be lying if I didn’t say I want this group to taste the playoffs. I really do, I want them to experience and see what that’s like.”
Marmol, a coach on Dave Roberts’ staff during the All-Star Game earlier in the week, has said repeatedly throughout this season that he’s having more fun coaching this Cardinals team than any of the four previous teams he’s skippered. That includes the 2022 team that featured Cardinals icons Albert Pujols, Yadier Molina and Adam Wainwright, and one that saw Paul Goldschmidt win the NL MVP and teammate Nolan Areando place third for that award and win his 10th consecutive Gold Glove. Sparked by Pujols stirring run to 703 career home runs, that team won the NL Central Division and got to the playoffs only to lose two straight games at Busch Stadium to the Phillies.
The Cardinals haven’t made the playoffs since, bottoming out in 2023 and fading late over the past two seasons while remaining on the fringes of the Wild Card before ultimately being eliminated.
Since 1947, the Cardinals have had stretches of at least three straight years out of the playoffs five times, including the current drought. The previous four times the franchise responded by reaching the NLCS (2019, 2000 and 1996) or winning the World Series (1982 and 1964).
That, of course, is ancient history now, but Marmol would like to see the Cardinals fighting for a playoff spot because of what he thinks those high-leverage moments could mean for the development of the young squad.
Jordan Walker who capped his storybook breakout season with a jaw-dropping power surge to become MLB’s Home Run Derby champion, has never played meaningful baseball at Busch Stadium in September. Closer Riley O’Brien, who locked up his 25th save in 29 tries on Friday night, has never pitched with the pressure of a do-or-die game in the balance. JJ Wetherholt started his second half the same as he did his MLB career – with a pull-side homer and a multi-hit game – and Marmol wants him learning how to cope with the nervousness of a win-or-go-home moment and still thrive.
Cards have MLB's fourth-most one-run wins
Friday night’s win over the D-backs was something of a microcosm of how the Cardinals have had to survive dozens of white-knuckler games this season. The Cards have 17 one-run wins in 2026, fourth most in MLB only to the Phillies (19), White Sox (19) and Dodgers (18).
Michael McGreevy tied Phillies All-Star Cristopher Sanchez for the most outings of at least six innings pitched and two-or-fewer runs allowed with 13 – the most among NL pitchers. Masyn Winn drove in three runs with some heady hitting, and All-Star DH Ivan Herrera lifted a two-strike pitch into left field for a fly ball that plated the winning run after the bullpen had squandered the lead.
"I feel like we play together and we have guys who play for one another, just like Ivan (Herrera) shortening up with two strikes and putting the ball in play and doing a job," said Winn said, who saved at least two runs with two spectacular defensive plays when Arizona had runners in scoring position. "That's just what this team does -- we pass the baton to the next guy."
That kind of selfless, heady play will have to continue, Marmol said, if the Cardinals want to end the three-year playoff drought and reach the postseason.
“We have to play good baseball,” he added in the Cardinals TV interview. “The way we’ve gotten to this point is taking care of the little things, keeping that attention to detail and making sure that we’re getting better every day. We just need to keep our focus there.”
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