Two weeks have passed since the Cardinals’ season came to an abrupt halt as they lost two consecutive games to Philadelphia here after rookie manager Oliver Marmol had guided the club to a National League Central Division championship.
There will be four months of reflection before the Cardinals, many of them anyway, gather in Jupiter, Florida, to prepare for the 2023 season, but Marmol said this past week, “I would have done everything the same (in the playoffs), to be honest with you.”
Then he did summon one decision he would have made differently. He would have removed relief ace Ryan Helsley after Helsley had walked two hitters to fill the bases in the ninth inning of Game 1 before Helsley hit Alec Bohm to force in the first of six runs the Phillies would score in the ninth in a 6-3 victory.