(Photo by Joe Puetz/Getty Images)
On Tuesday, some drama ensued within the clubhouse of the St. Louis Cardinals after their 4-1 loss to the Atlanta Braves.
A critical play in the game was when Brendan Donovan singled to right field and slugger Tyler O’Neill was sent home by third base coach Ron Warner.
Unfortunately, O’Neill was nabbed by Ronald Acuna Jr., who threw a strike to the plate to stop the slugger in his tracks.
After the game, manager Oli Marmol was very blunt about the situation and called O’Neill out for a supposed lack of hustle.
O’Neill disputed Marmol’s claims and stated that he was doing everything he could to stay healthy and compete for a full season.
The star center fielder was not in the starting lineup Wednesday for the Cardinals series finale against the Braves.
When asked about his decision to bench O’Neill, Marmol gave yet another blunt assessment.
#STLCards manager Oli Marmol on the dispute with CF Tyler O’Neill, who is not in the lineup today vs. the #Braves : “There’s a standard and it’s here (hand raised high). You meet it, you play; you don’t meet it, you don’t play.”
— John Denton (@JohnDenton555) April 5, 2023
Clearly, Marmol is not pleased with what he saw from O’Neill on Tuesday.
In addition to that, he likely isn’t pleased with O’Neill’s comments after learning what was said after the game.
Marmol made it clear that there are high standards and that if a player meets those standards, he will play, but if he does not, he won’t play.
Regardless of which side you take, it’s not a good look for the Cardinals to have this type of drama this early in the season.
The fact that it became public also presents an issue for the team.
In addition to O’Neill, Willson Contreras, who also had a baserunning blunder, was not in the starting lineup.
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