NEW YORK — If there was a series meant to showcase the trials and tribulations of a development-focused season, the St. Louis Cardinals’ four-game set against the New York Mets at Citi Field certainly did the trick.
The Mets sealed their sweep of the Cardinals with a 7-4 win on Sunday afternoon, dropping St. Louis to 9-13 and a ghastly 1-9 in road games to start the year. The Mets outperformed the Cardinals across the board. The Cardinals didn’t play bad baseball — they were in every game and battled back repeatedly throughout the series — but they were no match for a true National League juggernaut, and it showed.
“They are a good ballclub across the way, and they straight up beat us four in a row,” manager Oli Marmol said. “There are no excuses. They were the better club, and they executed at a higher rate than we did.
“We got beat, bottom line. And that’s the s— part, to be quite honest. You still played good baseball, it just wasn’t good enough.”
It’s possible that this could be a theme for St. Louis as it navigates its transition season. Developing players remains the club’s focus, and while the Cardinals aren’t conceding games, they are providing opportunities for players to learn and grow in real time.
With growth comes pain. The Cardinals lost the series opener Thursday due to one bad inning from Andre Pallante, who allowed four runs in the second inning but adjusted and retired 12 of his final 13 batters. On Friday, Francisco Lindor smashed a walk-off home run off Ryan Fernandez in the ninth. A standout performance from Kodai Senga led to a shutout on Saturday. Sonny Gray posted another quality start Sunday, but a three-spot in the eighth inning off Fernandez decided the game.
One bad inning upended Andre Pallante’s start in the opener of the Cardinals’ series at Citi Field. (Vincent Carchietta / Imagn Images)
“We have to figure out how to win on the road, obviously,” Gray said. “But having said that, there was still no give-up. There was no give-up at all. You come in here and you play a really good baseball team with high expectations for themselves. We got swept. We didn’t give up, we didn’t crumble. We continued battling back.”
That mindset will play into how the club evaluates individual performances. It’s also changed Marmol’s managing philosophy, something he knew he had to do before spring training. He’s managing to win, but he’s also managing to teach. How he and his coaching staff communicate that, especially to the less experienced players, will be critical to the organization’s development plan.
Francisco Lindor homers, Juan Soto drives in three, and the @Mets complete the four-game sweep. pic.twitter.com/JoMrYfrAOo
— MLB (@MLB) April 20, 2025
“I’ve wrapped my head around this prior to Game 1, understanding how I need to operate in order to get the most out of them,” Marmol said. “Our staff has done an incredible job of that. I would give them a ton of credit because of the teaching moments in the game.”
Marmol’s managing philosophy isn’t a blanket approach. Different players are in different parts of their careers, and it’s important to note how to communicate individually.
“Some guys are much further along on their growing curve,” Marmol said. “They’re at different spots in their understanding of how to play the game the right way, how they handle pressure and process some of the angst of the game in order to execute.”
Take Thomas Saggese, for example. Saggese had a strong offensive series with three doubles in three games. On Saturday, he also made a base-running gaffe when he took off for home on a groundball hit to the third baseman and was out easily at the plate. Soon after, third-base coach Pop Warner pulled Saggese aside to reiterate what went wrong and how to correct it. After the game, Marmol called Saggese into his office for the same discussion. Those conversations were had in a much different tone than years prior. It was a teaching moment.
“(Saturday) was a perfect example of a youthful game in a lot of different ways,” Marmol said. “There are youthful moments, and they have to experience that, learn from that. Our job is to make sure that it doesn’t look that way in July. But the last thing you can do is get pissed at this group, and then they start playing timid or scared or playing not to lose, rather than growing.
“When I watched Saturday’s game, normally I would have the absolute ass. But with this group, you can’t do that. That’s not what this is about right now. They’ll develop a lot faster and growth will take place a lot quicker if you don’t do that.”
Thomas Saggese ties the game in the 7th! pic.twitter.com/2mtkI5HZzS
— St. Louis Cardinals (@Cardinals) April 20, 2025
The change in the coaching approach has been noticed by the players. Saggese appreciates how Marmol and his staff have worked with him since he was brought up in early April. He works with coaches Jon Jay and Stubby Clapp routinely — Jay will discuss strategy while Clapp will pore over video from the game and help Saggese analyze different plays.
“It’s kind of interesting because in the minor leagues, winning is important, obviously, but it matters more to develop,” Saggese said. “Here, every game, every run really matters and is magnified. But I feel I’m adjusting well. It definitely helps when they’re explaining stuff, saying what I could do different and helping me prepare. Jay is always good about that, asking me what I would do here, what I think I could have done better. I’m going to make mistakes, but there are things to learn along the way.
“There is definitely a calm and more educational approach to this, rather than coaches just getting mad at you. In my opinion, that doesn’t really work as well as actually having a conversation with somebody and saying, ‘Hey, look, this is what you should be doing, this is what you should have done here, let’s talk about it.’”
Fernandez is another case. The right-hander has an 11.25 ERA in 10 appearances and has struggled in the higher-leverage role the Cardinals designated for him after his strong rookie season last year. He gave up three runs off three doubles on Sunday, the deciding runs of the game.
Still, Marmol pledged his faith in Fernandez after the game, reiterating that the Cardinals are going to need Fernandez if they are going to be successful.
“We’re going to need him to be able to go in those spots,” Marmol said. “Fernandez last year, he did a great job pitching in leverage and giving us some meaningful innings, and we’ve used him in a way where we’re trying to get him back to that point. … That’s where he has to be able to pitch if we’re going to be worth anything. Those guys have to define those roles and run with them. So we have to stick to the process there and let him play it out.”
That mentality doesn’t apply only to Fernandez. It’s the same process with Alec Burleson, who has a .601 OPS to start the season, and Nolan Gorman, who has sharply declined offensively since returning from the injured list last week. Take your pick of promising young players on the roster; the Cardinals will be patient with them and continue to grant them opportunities to adjust and adapt in the big leagues, even if it costs them victories.
It’s not easy, especially for an organization with a long-standing history of winning. But it’s what Marmol believes is best for the long-term future of both the players and the team.
“That’s where I can get frustrated, but at the same time, you have to be disciplined and stick to the process,” he said. “That’s probably the hardest part, if I’m being honest.”
Some help should be on the way soon. Masyn Winn (back spasms) has homered twice in his rehab assignment with Triple-A Memphis and could rejoin the Cardinals as early as Tuesday. Steven Matz will return to the bullpen for the next turn through the rotation to help with depth before making another start next week.
But the principle of the season remains. In this transition year, individual performance is more important than a team win. In an ideal world, the Cardinals can do both. In this series, they could not.
(Top photo of Nolan Gorman: Elsa / Getty Images)