Oliver Marmol Reveals Harrison Bader's Reaction to Benching for Lack of Effort

The St. Louis Cardinals are off to a mediocre 6-5 start in June, but that hasn't stopped the club from taking the first two games of a weekend set with the Cincinnati Reds. The Cardinals' brief two-game winning streak isn't without drama, though.

Center fielder Harrison Bader was benched mid-game on Saturday for an apparent lack of effort. Fortunately, manager Oliver Marmol revealed the young outfielder handled this benching with perfect stride.

Harrison Bader Benching

Marmol detailed that he spoke with Bader following the game, saying the Gold Glove winner "handled it like a pro."

Cardinals News

“We had a great conversation ... There’s expectations when it comes to effort and it wasn’t met today. He’ll be back in there tomorrow.”

- Oliver Marmol

It's unclear the exact exchange, but clearly the 28-year-old "energy guy" understood exactly why his manager was disappointed with his performance.

Marmol explained that the lack of effort stemmed from a pair of back-to-back plays. First, Bader didn't run hard on a lazy fly ball to center field in fifth inning. He later followed this up by walking slowly to his position in the outfield at the start of the sixth.

Bader is known for his energy, speed and aggressiveness on the diamond, evidenced by his 14 stolen bases in 2022. It just shows what a feel Marmol has at the helm of this squad, and a bit of an old-school way of sending a message.

Message received, loud and clear. Bader and the Cardinals look to complete their three-game sweep on Sunday against the Reds. Currently, FanDuel Sportsbook's MLB odds show St. Louis as -172 favorites to get the win.

Adam Taylor McKillop is not a FanDuel employee. In addition to providing DFS gameplay advice, Adam Taylor also participates in DFS contests on FanDuel using his personal account, username atmckillop. While the strategies and player selections recommended in his articles are his personal views, he may deploy different strategies and player selections when entering contests with his personal account. The views expressed in their articles are the author's alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of FanDuel.