After jumping on the Milwaukee Brewers early on Thursday afternoon, the St. Louis Cardinals couldn’t keep the powerful Milwaukee lineup at bay as the Brewers rallied to win 6-4 and split the four-game series.
With the loss, the Cards fell to 40-32 and dropped into a first-place tie in the National League Central division.
The Cardinals once again saw reliever Drew VerHagen struggle out on the mound, as he allowed an insurance run to score for the Brewers in the bottom of the eighth.
Following the game, St. Louis manager Oliver Marmol commented on VerHagen’s performance.
Brandon Kiley of 101ESPN tweeted what Marmol had to say.
“Embrace competition. It’s a tough league. You need to embrace moments where you have to get three outs before letting a run come in… You can’t just rely on stuff at this level… We’ve got some growing to do.” – Oli Marmol to @katiejwoo on Drew VerHagen. #STLCards
— Brandon Kiley (@BKSportsTalk) June 23, 2022
Marmol Stays Honest
Marmol gets a ton of credit for being an open and honest manager.
He was quite brutally honest here.
VerHagen was signed by the Cards on a two-year deal a day after the end of the MLB lockout.
So far, he has been a massive disappointment for St. Louis.
Marmol did not hesitate to say what needed to be said.
Of course, it’s not that VerHagen wasn’t giving any effort, but Marmol correctly pointed out that at the major league level, pitchers need to understand that relying on their stuff and nothing more isn’t going to get them very far.
VerHagen was brought in to stabilize a Cards bullpen that had been a problem at times during the 2021 season.
But outside of Ryan Helsley, Giovanny Gallegos, and Genesis Cabrera, the St. Louis bullpen has not performed terribly well.
Marmol here is saying what needs to be said and hoping to light a bit of a fire under VerHagen.
Perhaps soon we’ll see some shuffling in the Cards’ bullpen.
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