St. Louis Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol was not happy with Tyler O’Neill’s base running effort on Tuesday night against the Atlanta Braves, resulting in the center fielder being left out of the starting lineup for the series finale on Wednesday.
On Tuesday night, O’Neill was thrown out at the plate for Braves outfielder Ronald Acuna Jr. to end the seventh inning, causing Mármol to take issue with O’Neill’s effort to round out third base.
«That’s not our style of play as far as effort, rounding out the bag there,» Mármol said Tuesday. «It is unacceptable».
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O’Neill was not in the lineup for the series finale on Wednesday, a 5-0 victory for Atlanta to sweep the three game series.
«There is a standard, and it’s here,» Mármol said Wednesday morning in his office while raising his hand, according to the St. Louis Dispatch. «You find it, you play. You don’t meet it, you don’t play.»
O’Neill told reporters it was his scheduled day off.
«There’s going to be a style of play that we’re known for, and it’s going to take effort,» Marmol said. «And it’s going to mean being relentless. It’s going to mean being smart. And we’re going to keep the guys at it, because that’s how you stay good for a long time. There are a lot of good players in that clubhouse and below.»
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O’Neill, who disagreed Tuesday with Marmol’s view that his effort was lacking, told reporters he wished the situation had been handled differently.
«I rose through the minor leagues and into the big leagues playing hard and play rudimentary,» O’Neill told reporters Wednesday afternoon. «That’s who I am and that’s my character. I don’t want anyone to ever take that away from me.
«These conversations definitely could have been had internally and not hit the streets like they have. They should have been handled a little differently, in my opinion. But who’s to say.»
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O’Neill came on for a pinch-hitting at-bat in the eighth inning, flying out to center field.
The loss dropped the Cardinals to 2-4 on the season.