Despite their early-season struggles, there is one problem that the St. Louis Cardinals are dealing with that isn’t exactly a bad problem to have.
Their offense has been struggling, but they do have plenty of options in the outfield.
Lars Nootbaar, Tyler O’Neill, Dylan Carlson, and Alec Burleson are all with the big-league club right now.
Top prospect Jordan Walker has been playing right field too, which has led to a bit of a logjam in the outfield.
As such, players such as Juan Yepez are down in the minor leagues.
On Tuesday, Cardinals manager Oli Marmol discussed the outfield logjam and the constant competition for playing time.
#STLCards manager Oli Marmol on the OF logjam:
“It’s not fair & I’m not going to describe it as fair. I’m not going to sit here & say Dylan Carlson should be OK with it, or Tyler O’Neill should be OK with it, or whoever sits next should be OK with it.” https://t.co/98wikdbI5b
— John Denton (@JohnDenton555) April 18, 2023
Marmol stated that it isn’t fair to some of the Cardinals young outfielders to have to compete for playing time, and he vouchered for players such as Carlson and O’Neill.
The Cardinals manager was very blunt in his assessment and made clear that he understood how certain players might be feeling about the situation.
With so many options, this is a good problem to have for the Cardinals, but the downside is that several players who may be Major-League ready may not be getting their fair share of opportunities.
However, what the outfield logjam does provide for the Cardinals is a plethora of talented players to potentially trade from at the deadline in order to get a frontline starting pitcher, which is something that the team badly needs.
The deadline is still a few months away, however, and until then, the Cardinals are going to have several players competing for playing time in the outfield.
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Cardinals Analyst Points Out A Major Concern
