Cardinals Manager Oli Marmol: Consistency cure, The Miz, Jordan Walker’s status, MLB player poll

00:00:00
Speaker 1: I don't care if the opposing team doesn't like me. I'm okay with that. It's my own guy because something different, right, but uh yeah, pull pull my own guys, and then we'll go from there.

00:00:14
Speaker 2: Cardinals manager Ali marmol with us right now.

00:00:17
Speaker 3: Nice.

00:00:17
Speaker 4: First of all, look at that sweet, Holy go man of being a big leig manager. Look at that sweet Oh my god, how many ghosts are in that suite?

00:00:28
Speaker 3: That's what I want to know.

00:00:30
Speaker 1: I actually don't mind this place. I like coming to Milwaukee. I'm on the news side, so no ghosts on this side.

00:00:36
Speaker 3: There you go. I mean you got a bar back there? I mean is it open bar? After the games?

00:00:40
Speaker 1: Yeah? Have the coaches come over, have a drink, tossing ball? So yeah, it is an open bar. How we doing?

00:00:47
Speaker 2: If you win at an open bar?

00:00:48
Speaker 3: How you doing? Man?

00:00:49
Speaker 2: So we haven't caught you during the regular season. Here we saw in spring training. Are you enjoying this? And I heard in an interview John Mazzeilak did the other day and he's like, oh, we had some fun this past offseason hearing about our lack of activity, And now it's been fun for me because the results are showing on the field that if you just play your youngsters you can get some good results. Have you felt the same way?

00:01:13
Speaker 1: Yeah, man, it's been fun and it's a good group. We do have some young guys, we got some veteran sprinkled in there, but it's a really good group that's coming together, man, and it's been fun and manage them. We're running them out there. They're playing hard, they're playing the game the right way. So for those reasons, man, it's been a lot more fun than the last couple of years. They're starting to build something that could be fun to watch for several years. So that that part I'm excited about.

00:01:41
Speaker 4: Ollie. How great has it been to have Nolan around? I mean, how happy are you that he said, no, I don't think I really want to go to Houston. I'm gonna stay in Saint Louis and help mentor these young guys. And also he's having a good year.

00:01:52
Speaker 1: He is man, and his defense is back to what you're used to. He's in a good spot mentally too. When you look at Nolan, he didn't start the way he wanted to. But this is a guy like you land in Milwaukee, you land in these cities he's taking different guys to dinner in the clubhouse. He's doing what you would expect him to do. So for those reasons, man, I enjoy having the veterans around, like in twenty two, having Ap and those guys around last year, Goldie and Nato. So it's good to have those guys in the clubhouse. Turn a year like this when you have so many young guys, because they they're able to model it and keep things in check. So I enjoy having a not a he's been great to me, but uh yeah, he is having a good year, and I think it's a matter of time before he gets hot. He starts to feel a little bit better about his swing, which is a good thing.

00:02:37
Speaker 5: How much of this success for the young guys is consistency, Like before your roster was, Hey, great job at second base, go play center field. Hey you're doing awesome in centerfield. We're gonna play you at shortstop. Actually we're gonna sit you down. You're hitting this well. No, Now it's like, hey, you know what, one through eight is pretty much similar in your lineup every single night.

00:02:59
Speaker 1: That's been the key to it is these young guys showing up everythy knowing exactly where they're going to play and where they're going to hit. Hi the lineup. We haven't messed around a whole lot with the lineup. When it comes to just left right matchups, our lineup is what it is, Newton and Donnie in the one to three and if we're facing the left that we've kept it the same way, man. But the consistency in that part of it has led to consistency on the field. And these guys are doing a really nice job defensively. That's why it's hard of kind of moved Donovan from second base and bopping them around and play them in the outfield and third on days off and things like that. It's he's been consistent, so I want to keep him at one position and the lineup as well as far as the batting order. But they're showing up and putting in the work every day. That's been the key to all of it. Man. They're hungry to be coached, and they enjoy the feedback, even on days where the feedback isn't pleasant, like, they enjoy kind of hearing what's next for their career, and they've been good about it. Man.

00:03:54
Speaker 4: Is that the cardinal way is that the cardinal way, because what is the cardinal way?

00:03:57
Speaker 5: I don't know.

00:03:58
Speaker 3: I played there. I didn't really know what the card way it was.

00:04:01
Speaker 1: To tell me that way, I mean, people describe it somebody is, to be quite honest with you, at the end of the day, it's when I came up through the minor leagues. It was a matter of putting in the work and doing the little things well, never settling for just mediocrey. It's just you have to get after it. So call it what you want, are guys, you are going about it extremely well.

00:04:27
Speaker 5: I gotta ask your catchers. I don't know if that's the next topic that we should go to. You have Ivon Herrera, you have Poso, you have Pahes, who I heard from one of your coaches is like the glue guy in the clubhouse. You got rid of, not rid of, but you moved Wilson to first base. Who is the pre eminent all star catcher, all this stuff, and now.

00:04:50
Speaker 6: You have three catchers. You can't figure out who to play because they're all raking. You're gonna be like a triple A team soon where you have three catchers in your lineup and it's just be a bunch of good looking dudes that are banging. How can you get all of these guys to consistently play by the way that they're hitting the ball.

00:05:10
Speaker 1: When I look at it. Herreras Reken he's a professional hitter man. He does a lot of things well, especially for his age. The way he handles his at bats, it's pretty impressive. Paz is more of a defensive first type of guy, and he's done a really nice job. If you can live with this guy every day and watch the way he prepares, understands his staff but understands the opposition, and how well he kind of gains the trust of everybody on that staff. Man, it's it's fun to watch and it's hard not to catch him because of how well prepared he is. So we've mixed and matched Pozo with Libertoire and Piz gets the bulk of it, and we want to keep her bad in the lineup. So we got a little rotation going that's played well up to now, and we'll continue it until we feel like we have to make a change. But at the at the moment, man, it's it's worked. Ah.

00:06:00
Speaker 2: I got two fan questions coming your way, and one is related to this conversation. A lot of fans are going ask about Jimmy Crooks. Isn't he a catcher too?

00:06:12
Speaker 1: Yes, we got Jimmy Crookz, we got Bernal, We got several guys down below that project to be pretty good catchers at the big league level. So we'll have some decisions to make. Having depth is a good thing, hard decisions. I'd rather have those hard decisions to make as a staff and with the front office. But yeah, we got we got some guys coming that can play.

00:06:33
Speaker 2: The other consensus question coming in from fans is to ask about Jordan Walker, any timetable and what did you see from him right before he hit the shelf, because there was a little more success. From a very casual fan perspective, here is watching all the teams feel like sometimes there's I mean, he's made a lot of changes over his first few years to try and figure out what's working for him. So did you feel like he was starting to find that change to actually lock in with.

00:07:01
Speaker 1: I do, and it suck that he got hurt when he did, because we were starting to kind of gain a little traction there offensively, defensively, I mean, John Jay has been incredible for him.

00:07:15
Speaker 4: No, nope, no you goet No.

00:07:22
Speaker 3: No, it wasn't. I mean because John j thinks he's a player doesn't mean he's a good coach.

00:07:27
Speaker 1: He let me tell you, let me tell you how he's a really good coach, Like, really really good coach. This dude cares. He's locked into every single detail and he doesn't have a problem. One of the best things is like he one, he's relatable, but he can hold you accountable in a way where guys don't get defensive. He's going to tell you exactly what he thinks at all times, but he has the resume to back it up. Man Like, he's gone through the ups and downs of being a big leaguer and what he's done for Jordan, not only for Jordan, but the entire outfield. Man Like, it's just putting him on a really good routine where when the game starts, they're confident. They're confident in going out there and playing with some freedom and not worrying about making mistakes. He's going to make a mistake and do it on the aggressive side. And we've seen Jordan go from a guy that was somewhat of a liability out in right field too. We're on his off days. We're putting in for late defense, and that's a big deal for the confidence of a young player like Jordan. Offensively, he started to actually do some things well, and Brownie's been good for him. There are some changes there. The league starting to figure him out. They're spinning them down in a way he couldn't recognize spin and it caused some trouble. But we started to do a better job of that as of late. Then he got hurt. So my hope is to have him here sooner than later. I think we're days away, not weeks, which is great.

00:08:40
Speaker 3: All right.

00:08:41
Speaker 4: By the way, you guys go to Chicago after this, just make sure John Jay doesn't do things he's not supposed to, because he's been known to be handcuffed before it, and this time he's going to the White Sox.

00:08:52
Speaker 1: He's warning, We'll.

00:08:54
Speaker 4: Warning, just warn him to be careful because now he's going down to the White Sox. So there's If he thought regularly was bad, just imagine how bad it could be on the South Side.

00:09:03
Speaker 3: I'm just saying, don't tell them not to get too cold.

00:09:07
Speaker 1: Were you the one behind that one?

00:09:09
Speaker 4: I was the only one behind that I was the only one who knew, So people that don't know, I had John Jay arrested and.

00:09:14
Speaker 3: Regular, yeah, we've told it.

00:09:16
Speaker 4: He was scared to death to say the least. But he deserved it all right because he put his butt in my face.

00:09:21
Speaker 3: It was a whole.

00:09:23
Speaker 4: But the question I have for you is, you know, when you first took this job a few years ago, there was no gray.

00:09:29
Speaker 3: Okay in this beard?

00:09:31
Speaker 4: Is this one managing does to you? I know, is this one managing does to you? It turns your hair grain? Is it because descalso is so close to you all the time.

00:09:39
Speaker 1: No, it's it's managing. And when you play that many one run ball games, this is what you get right here. It's uh, it was completely black and twenty two and it's kind of like those before and after pictures of a president. So yeah, it'll take years off your life for sure.

00:09:52
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00:10:52
Speaker 5: Going into this year, you know a new GM's coming in. You know how that like transition thing works. You are so good and I'm hearing this from other people and the little bit that we've interacted, you are so good at connecting with the players. How during the time that you know a new GM is coming in, Normally new gms are like, well, you know, Ali might be a great guy, but I'm bringing my own guy. How do you make that transition into this year going? You know what, I'm going to be who I am. I'm going to be here for the players. Whatever happens with Hein Bloom, when he comes in and Mozlac leaves. How do you make that transition because you have to like address the elephant in the room that you know what, we don't know what tomorrow holds, but I'm going to be here for you guys today.

00:11:41
Speaker 1: Dude, I'm gonna be as honest as that can be. I don't worry about it at all, not even a little bit. I'm here for the players. Like you said, man, I show up every day and I want to make sure that a couple of things happen, that my staff knows I have their back and that I'll do whatever they need in order for them to do their jobs well, and that the players know that I have their back, and whether they're in a good run or a bad run, man that that I that we're there to come alongside of them and do this together. So I don't spend a whole lot of time on worrying about next year, what's going to happen. The transition has actually been really good. The collaboration between them two of mo really focusing on the big league club and how I'm focusing on steading up and just put in certain systems in place for a minor league to continue to move in the right direction has been really good. So I've been able to meet with both of them, and to your point, man, it's it's so much easier to do life when you can just be yourself. And that's what I'll continue to do. I woke up for the last nineteen years trying to make this org better and I'll continue to do that. So I'll keep focusing on the staff and the players and let that play out however it does.

00:12:47
Speaker 2: Man, Oh, I got one for you from yeah before, because that was a cool game. There were a lot of people watching that one yesterday. I mean, wow, cool, cool for fans, not your hitters, Yes, for fans. Okay, So their thoughts on what you saw? Yes, on both sides really because for you, first off, I mean, Sunny Gray has been awesome, so this was a blip and so what did you see there on his side? And then on the other side, Yeah, I would love a little scattering report on Jacob Mizrawski, who the Brewers waited for because it's not like he's twenty. They waited a little bit for him to get some control, and I think he's got it.

00:13:22
Speaker 1: Yeah, now you nailed it. And I enjoy those matchups. They are fun. Jacob was good, I mean plus extension. I mean, this is a lanky dude. It feels like he's just putting the ball in the catcher's bit and it's one hundred and one hundred and two, one hundred and three and he was spinning it at eighty seven eighty eight with good depth. It's a tough at bat. I felt like second time through, our timing was a little better. Our bats were a little better. We drew some walks and put some balls in play, so that that part of it was good. But that's a good arm. I mean, you feel like you're facing a closer from pitch number one. So it was impressive to watch him. I'm not sure what the what the injury was. I hope he's okay, man because there's definitely a future there. And then Sonny, you said it, he's been good. They got to him and strung together a couple of hits there in order to kind of get him out of the game. But he's been really good for us. I love the way he competes. Man, this is a guy that just shows up. He's so detailed, so he'll get back on track. That's the That's the least of my worries.

00:14:20
Speaker 4: Hey, best picture you guys have faced this year's or least maybe lest couple of school bol Skimes Miserawski. I mean, who's who's the guy that stands out when you look back and say this is the best.

00:14:33
Speaker 1: This is gonna probably throw you off a little bit because of how it's been for him as of late. But Bobby Miller, when he threw against us a couple of years that was at their place opening day, I believe it was filth. It was absolute filth and it hasn't gone away as but he did that nine was was unhaple skiing. I mean we we sed him quite a bit. I mean a really good arm. We've been able to kind of win a couple of games sinces, but they're never easy. And this guy what he's doing, he's tough to face and school as well. We have some pretty good arms, but the list he just gave pretty.

00:15:11
Speaker 2: Good, Yeah, really good. I got one more and I think A just got one more. So this is a fun one. I don't know if you caught this. The Athletic did a player poll and you were on the poll for managers that a guy would least want to play for. But wait, there's a caveat hold on. Because we talked about this a lot yesterday. You might be like, what, what a dick bringing this up? Wait, so they pulled something. Players, No, I got you hold on because I had your back yesterday. Ali, they pulled it. They pulled one hundred something players. Okay, only about forty replied to this particular one. So for the least to play for, it was just a bunch of dudes that had like three or four boats, right, So you happen to hit that list among many others. And the Athletic basically like delegitimize the list itself because they released some of the quotes. So this is the one they put out for you on Ali Marmal. Here's here's an example of a player that said, oh, I don't want to play for Ali. Quote, I don't really know many managers. I'm trying to think of someone in our division, just so I can say someone who's the Cardinals guy? Yeah, just put him down. So so, hey, shocker, your rivals think about you and don't like you. So what did you think about that? Because for me, yeah, you want to pull thousands of guys they've all played, you know, guys that have played for everyone. Cool, but they kind of belittled what they did there. So I thought it was funny.

00:16:35
Speaker 1: No. I love articles like that, They're my favorite. I mean to simplify, ay J, what what did opposing players think of you when you were a player?

00:16:43
Speaker 3: Bud Oh? We talked about that, trust me.

00:16:46
Speaker 4: We talked about that yesterday because we had the writer on it, and I said, well, you know I won most hated all the time.

00:16:51
Speaker 1: I'm like, yeah, but here's the thing. And then when you come over the guys that you actually played with once he got traded and came over, what did they think of you?

00:17:06
Speaker 4: I mean, I think they like me, most of them, but I don't think it wayneright likes because now we have to work together.

00:17:10
Speaker 3: So I think Wayne right one.

00:17:11
Speaker 1: I like even in talking to Scowls and Jay like, they they've mentioned it, like man like you see him across the way and you just like you hate him, like his act, all of it, and then you get him in the clubhouse, you're like, he's my favorite dude, Like I want him here for as long as he wants to be here. So I take it as like I don't I don't care, Like if the opposing team doesn't like me, I'm okay with that. It's my own guys, that's something different, right, but uh yeah, pull pull my own guys, and then we'll go from there. All right.

00:17:41
Speaker 4: Listen, we learned this at Doctor Phillips High School. That's why you're hated and I was hated, Okay, so I get it. It's what we teach ATDP oh DP, Go Panthers, whatever you want to say, that's what we talk, all right. I gotta ask you this because we recently had Max Muncy on and you guys trolled Clayton Kershaw, so.

00:17:58
Speaker 3: I know that was your what you learned deep right.

00:18:00
Speaker 4: You put the video up there, but the reason you did it was because your fellow alumnus from Doctor Phillip is on that video, So I know what you guys were really doing, right, So I appreciate it, So thank you. Guys for trolling Kershaw with me even though I wasn't even on the roster.

00:18:16
Speaker 3: But it was cool.

00:18:17
Speaker 1: You're an idiot.

00:18:18
Speaker 2: Yeah, it was good theater, it was.

00:18:25
Speaker 3: It made for good. It got some good quotes out of Clayton. I mean it was good. It was. It was funny. I mean, come on, it was.

00:18:30
Speaker 1: The guy's a stud man. He's done it a while. He's had a huge impact on and off, so I got nothing there. He's a good dude.

00:18:39
Speaker 4: He is a great That's what made it so funny because he is such a great dude that the fact that that happened and then I don't know, it just it made me love.

00:18:48
Speaker 3: It still makes me laugh when I think about it.

00:18:49
Speaker 2: It's not your job to think about this stuff, Ali, but our job is to promote the game and fun and entertainment whatever. So it makes things interesting in mid June. Let's just put it that. Well, I just I think like the fun, Yeah, the fun back and forth. You know, we had Hunter Dobbins on yesterday. He had a fun week, the Red Sox rookie with the Yanks like that. Stuff's harmless and people are talking about baseball, no doubt, it sells.

00:19:17
Speaker 5: Doctor Phillips Doctor High School. Just you had to graduate with a troll degree. Unbelievable and a.

00:19:31
Speaker 3: Colliams. You're always watching the College World series.

00:19:33
Speaker 1: He went to Carol No, you know you were close. No, I'm not watching it. College of Charleston close though.

00:19:41
Speaker 3: There aren't they close to each other. They're pretty close.

00:19:44
Speaker 1: Ben rival the years I was, and they're pretty good. They're actually really good.

00:19:51
Speaker 3: Yeah, they've been good at college for years. They have a national championship.

00:19:54
Speaker 4: Yeah, I mean they won the night and the whole thing.

00:19:58
Speaker 1: They can play.

00:20:00
Speaker 3: Yeah, they're thirteenth in the country. They're good.

00:20:02
Speaker 2: They're really good.

00:20:02
Speaker 1: They can swing ali awesome. Thank you.

00:20:06
Speaker 2: Thanks for the time, man, This was great. Love watching what's been put on the field this year. So keep it up.

00:20:11
Speaker 1: Man. Oh wait, I appreciate you guys what you got. Look at me, Yeah, look at me, point exactly, yeah, exactly.

00:20:20
Speaker 3: Why you know who I'm rooting for?

00:20:23
Speaker 2: I can't, But then once you're his teammate, it's actually pretty fun.

00:20:27
Speaker 1: So there you got that one, Ollie.

00:20:29
Speaker 3: Thank you, man, have a good week.

00:20:32
Speaker 1: Thank you.

00:20:32
Speaker 3: Thanks