SAN FRANCISCO — In the top left drawer of his desk at Busch Stadium, St. Louis Cardinals manager Oli Marmol keeps the lineup card from the final game of the 2023 season. It serves as a reminder of one of the darkest years in the franchise’s storied history, a historically bad 91-loss campaign.
It’s also a reminder of a place Marmol never wants to be again. After another missed postseason, he remains committed to ensuring the Cardinals return to contention — and he’s willing to do it right, even if it will take some time.
The Cardinals concluded their regular season with a 6-1 victory over the San Francisco Giants. They finished with an 83-79 record, tying the Chicago Cubs for second place in the National League Central. It was better than last year. It’s still nowhere close to where Marmol and the Cardinals know they should be.
The work for next season and beyond begins now.
The Cardinals plan to undergo a reset period for the 2025 season. They will part ways with long-time first baseman Paul Goldschmidt, and appear unlikely to bring back their other impending free agents in relievers Andrew Kittredge and Keynan Middleton. St. Louis is unlikely to exercise its club options on Kyle Gibson and Lance Lynn. The organization is preparing for a reduction in payroll next season as it redirect its focus on improving an outdated player development system. An end-of-season press conference is scheduled for Monday afternoon at Busch Stadium, where president of baseball operations John Mozeliak is expected to address the club’s future in full.
The focus will be on the youth. Sunday’s season finale showed what that could look like if done right. Michael McGreevy posted eight innings of one-run ball in just his third career start, Alec Burleson went 2-for-4 with three RBI and Brendan Donovan homered while reaching base four times. That allowed the Cardinals to end the season on a positive note, while also showcasing what games in 2025 could look like.
“I’m excited,” Marmol said. “We need to build this group and get them ready to go on a real run. Not just compete and make the playoffs. This is a group that we need to come together and continue to develop them.”
Destroyed by Donnie!#ForTheLou pic.twitter.com/EkooKKqnVa
— St. Louis Cardinals (@Cardinals) September 29, 2024
After two strong starts and one commendable performance in long relief, McGreevy commanded the mound at Oracle Park with authority, striking out more batters (six) than he allowed hits (five). McGreevy did not walk a batter and needed just 91 pitches to get through eight innings.
“This isn’t our first rodeo anymore, this is our third start in the big leagues,” McGreevy said. “So I just wanted to take every pitch for what it was worth and execute the best I could.”
McGreevy, the club’s 2021 first-round draft pick, will likely have every opportunity to compete for a role in next year’s rotation. So will Andre Pallante, who made 20 starts and posted a 3.56 ERA, the lowest ERA by any Cardinals’ starter in the second half. How the Cardinals will navigate the remaining contracts of veteran pitchers Miles Mikolas (due $17.5 million in 2025) and Steven Matz (due $12 million in 2025) remains to be seen. Still, St. Louis expects to have multiple open spots in next year’s rotation, opening the door for both McGreevy and Pallante.
Michael McGreevy can do it all! pic.twitter.com/UvQnyOzavo
— St. Louis Cardinals (@Cardinals) September 29, 2024
Donovan finished the year with a .279 average and .759 OPS, along with a career- high 14 homers, all while playing most of his season out of position in left field. He’ll be a key piece to next year’s team, and he’s aware of the responsibility that comes with that.
“I have a game plan in place for next season,” Donovan said. “I want to have a strong understanding of who I am as a baseball player and cling to that, but also hammer those strengths and clean up some of those weaknesses as well.”
He, too, can see a vision for next year’s club, pointing out Burleson’s bat and shortstop Masyn Winn’s dominant rookie year as examples. He also knows that with youth comes inexperience, and with inexperience comes growing pains. He believes the group is prepared to handle that next year.
“There’s really only one way to learn in this game,” Donovan said. “Unfortunately, it’s to get out there and fail. That’s the only way to learn. We’re making mistakes all the time, it’s just how quickly can we learn from them? These young guys are extremely impressive. To see them day in and day out, they do some amazing things.
“There is a lot to look forward to.”
Alec Burleson has collected 3 more RBI today!#ForTheLou pic.twitter.com/FWbexrJpja
— St. Louis Cardinals (@Cardinals) September 29, 2024
Marmol shares that sentiment. He recognizes his squad fell short of high expectations. There was no celebrating a winning record after Sunday’s win or toasting a 12-game improvement from last year. But there was optimism that the young pieces on the roster could eventually help build something special again in St. Louis.
As examples, Marmol identified the work Matthew Liberatore and Ryan Fernandez did to turn into two of the club’s most reliable relievers. The rookie seasons of catchers Pedro Pagés and Iván Herrera were also mentioned, with Marmol crediting both backstops for how they stepped up in the wake of Willson Contreras’ injury-riddled season. The young catchers made dramatic advancements in game planning and preparation. The club still has plenty confidence in Nolan Gorman and Jordan Walker; if either hitter can find his stride offensively next season, then the Cardinals should be in good shape.
That’s the hope, at least. The Cardinals plan to go back to their roots. They want to develop and nourish homegrown talent. They are willing to spend the next couple of seasons sacrificing wins to help establish players’ futures. For the first time in a long time, they feel they have the right core to do so.
“It’s a young group, but it’s a good group,” Marmol said. “They’re going to make mistakes, they’re going to do things that are out of the norm, but at the end of the day, I think there is a bright future ahead.”
(Photo of Michael McGreevy: Eakin Howard / Getty Images)
