St. Louis Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol may be right about Tyler O’Neill, but he handled it in the worst possible way.
Tyler O’Neill was thrown out at the plate by Atlanta Braves right fielder Ronald Acuña. It was a strong throw, but had O’Neill been running at a full sprint, he likely would have beat it. Instead, St. Louis failed to score their second run of the night and lost the game.
In the clubhouse after the game, Marmol spoke with O’Neill privately to discuss his concerns. That should have been the end of it, but instead both parties spoke to the media. Marmol threw O’Neill under the bus, and that continues on Wednesday morning.
O’Neill is out of the lineup on Wednesday, as Marmol has made his point. But is he going about this the right way?
Cardinals: Oliver Marmol makes mistake with Tyler O’Neill
To recap: Marmol had an issue with O’Neill’s hustle, or lack thereof. That’s fair. Unfortunately, both parties went to the media shortly thereafter.
“That’s not our style of play as far as the effort, rounding the bag there,” Marmol said. “It’s unacceptable.”
O’Neill does have a history of leg injuries. Considering we’re only a few games into a long season, it sounds like he wanted to take it easy rather than pushing himself beyond capacity on a wet field.
“He didn’t think I gave the best effort,” O’Neill said. “I’m out here every day grinding my ass off, giving it my all and trying to stay on the field for 160 games out here.”
O’Neill seemed upset that Marmol made their discussion public. One lone mistake is fine, but should he not address it, Marmol is at risk of losing the clubhouse very early into a 162-game campaign.