NL WILD CARD SERIES: PHILLIES VS CARDINALS

October 7, 2022

Oliver Marmol

Busch Stadium

St. Louis Cardinals

Postgame Press Conference

Cardinals 3 - Phillies, 6

Q. Ollie, is it fair to say Brian was compromised at all there in the ninth? Was the finger an issue that may have led to some of that control? Can you take us through that?

OLIVER MARMOL: Yeah. Once we went out there, he said he started to lose a little bit of feel for his pitches. So I would have to say yes. He felt good when he came off the first time, went back out. No issues early on, but then said he started to lose feel.

Q. What do you have to do in that spot? How quickly do you have to kind of get a read on it? A couple of walks obviously, but he can get it back. Then the hit batter?

OLIVER MARMOL: Yeah. The hit batter is enough. You're hoping he gets it back. He's been super reliable all year. Obviously we're aware of the issue with the finger. It wasn't an issue early on. Didn't show any signs of it. Once you go back-to-back walks, you're thinking this is the last hitter and hit by pitch definitely ends it.

Q. Is there any hesitation not knowing what that might look like after you had the reports on the injury or do you have to treat it if he's good to go with the doctors, you say he's good?

OLIVER MARMOL: Yeah. You check every box. We've been honest with each other all year. You say you're good to go, then you're good to go.

Q. What came down to the decision between Pallante and Jack?

OLIVER MARMOL: Yeah. That's a tough one. Segura is a high-ground ball, 60% ground ball guy against righties all year. Pallante is a high-high ground ball guy. That match up has about 70 percent. You got one out. The situation is basically you want to end the game there with a ground ball double play. If there's two outs that go to Jack and go for the punch out. So you're just playing the outs and probability there.

Q. When you're looking at the defensive positioning there, it looked like maybe man was playing a little shallow in terms of the double play?

OLIVER MARMOL: Yeah. He can easily tap something in play and get going. You want to make sure if it's not hit hard, you can get him out on the plate and give yourself a chance. If it's hit hard, then you're turning a double play. So he's positioned correctly there.

Q. That was a conversation I was -- was there a conversation about playing the middle infields back? You got the ground ball you wanted. Was there a conversation about playing back for the double play?

OLIVER MARMOL: Yeah. We're in what we call an X play there where you're tight enough that if it's hit soft, you're going to the plate. If it's hit hard, you can turn it. You're going to have to get the right ground ball against Segura. He can run. So you have to defend against both. Even if he's two steps back, glove side, you're not turning that double play against Segura.

Q. The moment for Yepez there in the seventh, that was a spot we talked about this morning that manifested itself to get the offense going a little bit?

OLIVER MARMOL: Yeah. Everybody has their role on this roster, and they understand where they fit and how they're going to fit into the game. Yepez came in what we talked about and big swing and same thing with Gorman. We talked about the versatility of being able to come in if they tie it after, and he came out with a base hit. So guys did their job. Unfortunately that last thing got away.

Q. Do you know what this means for Ryan Helsley moving forward?

OLIVER MARMOL: Not yet. We'll go in get a feel for it. If I had to guess, we'll get some images and see if there's anything structurally wrong. And if not, we'll make a decision whether he continues or if he's down.

Q. Did he tell you -- the eighth inning, did he experience any of that after the 8th inning or did he not have the numbness until the ninth?

OLIVER MARMOL: He had nothing at all.

Q. You've leaned on him heavily all season. He's meant everything to you. If you don't have him going forward, how tough is that?

OLIVER MARMOL: We've had guys step up all year. If he goes down, someone else has to step up and do that job. So it's part of it. No one is going to feel sorry for us. Tell you that.

Q. The way things unraveled in the ninth just seemed so uncharacteristic for this club known for its composure and keeping calm. How do you feel like that trait is going to help them wash this game and bounce back for Game 2?

OLIVER MARMOL: I think we'll be fine. These guys all year have done a nice job of whether we win a big game or lose a big game. The next day is a new day. This will be no different. We know what's at stake. We either win or go home. We'll embrace that.

Q. Ollie, just a quick followup, two questions, one followup on the Helsley. He had thrown so many pitches. Was it possible he might not be available anyway tomorrow?

OLIVER MARMOL: Possibility.

Q. So as you're thinking about that, the importance of wing this game, what do you think about like tomorrow how you might close out a game? Does that go into at all like a Flaherty/Pallante decision?

OLIVER MARMOL: Yeah. That's why Pallante continues there because if not, Jack may get some meaningful outs at the end of the game.

Q. And the last thing I wanted to ask you about the offense. Obviously Wheeler and Quintana both pitched very well. Feel like there were some moments out there where there was more offense to be had for you?

OLIVER MARMOL: I felt pretty darn good about our offense. You look at the first nine hitters. You had about four or five balls in play over 95. I thought we took good swings off Wheeler. He did a nice job, competed well, made pitches, but for as hard as we hit balls for him to throw up zeros was impressive. We had a good approach. Yeah.

Q. Touching on the offense a little bit, when you had two on, nobody out, Albert and Goldschmidt coming up, did you feel that was a chance to maybe take a little jump on the game there?

***OLIVER MARMOL: Yeah. Took a shot, and they're both competing. And Wheeler won. But absolutely, yeah. Two guys on and Albert as hot as he's been, yeah, you're feeling good about that. Sometimes it works out, sometimes it doesn't.

Q. What did you make of Q's performance today and the decision, the pitching stepped up after that like you wanted. Just didn't get the results you wanted. Did you wrestle at all with lifting him when you did or was it exactly what you wanted there?

OLIVER MARMOL: We knew coming into this game there was a possibility they'd throw in two rites between the lefties there in order for us to make a decision. At that point in the game we felt good about going to our pen and lining it up the way we did after the Schwarber at-bat. You could have easily taken him through the two righties and then Harper. We'd be asking the same question if you walked Hoskins and Realmuto had a two-run homer. So we liked the way we lined it up.

Q. What did you think about how he performed?

OLIVER MARMOL: He was awesome. I loved the way he competed. Everything you would expect out of the guy that you name one. But unbelievable job. Mixes pitches. Kept guys off balance. A lot of soft contact early. Exactly what you would expect out of Q. He took this game no different than any other. He competed extremely well.

Q. Just two quick ones. With Nolan Gorman coming through there in the end, it didn't end up scratching the runs you guys needed, but he's been down in Triple A. What did it mean for him to be able to come through in potentially what could have been a meaningful moment for you guys?

OLIVER MARMOL: It was good to see. When you make the decision to have him on the roster, it was the last decision we made on the position player side. And you're doing a couple things. You're trusting him and his honesty as far as, hey, hasn't looked good, but I'm in a good mental place to compete. So that's one thing. Then you're investing in the future. Having him on this roster experiencing what this feels like and coming up there and getting that base hit, he'll build off of that for years to come. So I liked it.

Q. And then on the grounder to Nolan Arenado there at the end. What did you see on that play? Can you kind of take us through your vantage point of that one that he wasn't able to make?

OLIVER MARMOL: Yeah. I'd have to take another look at it. Just looked like it went under the glove. I'm not sure. I didn't talk to him about it. The guy makes every play in the world. So you just chalk is up to baseball and you keep moving.