Oli explained the reasoning for this in a recent interview, and this is paraphrasing, but it goes something like this, "If you're going to give a young guy the day off, it's best to do it after he's had a great game, so that as he's sitting there on the bench, he's feeling good about his game and what he's accomplished as he replays it in his head. Whereas if you sit a guy after he's had a bad game, negativity gets into his head and he starts beating himself up."Basil Shabazz wrote: ↑24 Aug 2025 11:46 am Oli has a habit of sitting a young player the game after they seem to get something going.
He’s done it with Walker and Gorman a few times.
Now it’s Church’s turn.
It's not the worst logic I've ever heard, but as we've seen in the last 3.5 years, this approach has horrendous F'n results with most young Cardinals. But that's Oli. He basically thinks he's a baseball genius. In a more recent interview, when asked about Pujols and Molina wanting to coach the Cards, paraphrasing again but his response went something like, "I'm not worried about it. I know what those guys can do and I know what I bring to the table."
Don't think I've ever despised a manager more than I do Oli. Mostly because he's never accomplished a single F'n thing in his MLB career, yet he clearly thinks he's God's gift to managing. And his one chance he had to accomplish something, he pulled an unhittable starting pitcher after 5.1 IP and tried to get 2 innings out of a closer who had just jammed a throwing finger 72 hours before.
Only thing Oli "brings to the table" is perhaps the most rapid decline in MLB history of a once successful franchise.