Cardinals to Announce Oliver Marmol as New Manager

According to multiple sources, the Cardinals are in line to name Oliver “Oli” Marmol as their new manager. There is a presser set for 10:00 AM St. Louis time on Monday.

Since the club’s unexpected firing of Mike Shildt back on October 14th, Marmol has been considered a favorite by many to be promoted to the position. Marmol had been Shildt’s bench coach since 2019 — Shildt’s first full season as manager.

Marmol has been with the organization since 2007.. when he was drafted in the sixth round. Marmol played in the farm system until 2010, but he didn’t take any time off after his playing career ended. In 2011, Oli served as the hitting coach of the GCL Cardinals. Marmol managed the Johnson City Cardinals for three seasons before being promoted to the Palm Beach manager’s seat in 2015. Marmol joined the Memphis Redbirds as a first base coach in 2017, and, as mentioned above, joined the big league squad in 2019 as the bench coach. Marmol followed a similar path to the majors that Mike Shildt took; Shildt, you may recall, managed at Johnson City, Springfield, and Memphis.

Marmol has some big shoes to fill. The three Cardinals managers before him had winning percentages around .550 in their tenures at the helm; Shildt had a .559, Mike Matheny a .555, and Tony La Russa a .544.

Marmol will be just the sixth St. Louis skipper dating back to 1990 and the Cardinals’ first manager of color in nearly eight decades. At 35 years old, Oli will be the youngest manager in the Majors.