While conducting research before voting for this season鈥檚 National League manager of the year award, something already obvious looked even more impressive.
Wow, Mike Shildt had one heck of a season in San Diego.
And while the Cardinals front office that canned Shildt over phony 鈥減hilosophical differences鈥 can try to keep shut the Shildt chapter 鈥 or try to twist any mention of the former manager into alleged negative commentary against current manager Oli Marmol 鈥 most of us know better, don鈥檛 we?
Marmol didn鈥檛 fire Shildt. Cardinals president of baseball operations John Mozeliak did, with what seemed at the time like mixed emotions from chairman Bill DeWitt Jr. And it was over Shildt鈥檚 personality clashes with the front office, not word-salad philosophical differences. Shildt had big concerns about the direction the Cardinals were trending and he got hot about it. How has that viewpoint aged?
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It鈥檚 why plenty around here will be pulling for Shildt鈥檚 Padres this postseason while the Cardinals once again watch from home. The first-year San Diego manager has led the Padres to 90-plus wins in baseball鈥檚 brutal National League West. But he didn鈥檛 just weather a dangerous division storm that includes the powerhouse Dodgers and reigning World Series runner-up Diamondbacks. His Padres secured a second place finish and, more importantly, the precious NL top wild-card spot despite some seriously challenging circumstances. More than some might realize.
Beloved Padres owner Peter Seidler tragically died in November 2023. Between opening day 2023 and opening day 2024, San Diego鈥檚 major-league payroll dropped by nearly $100 million and included the departure of 2023 Cy Young Award winner Blake Snell. As late as July, there were rumors that claimed Padres general manager A.J. Preller, who hired Shildt, could get fired. But wait, there鈥檚 more.
Yu Darvish and Joe Musgrove, who were supposed to be the top two starters in Shildt鈥檚 rotation, missed big chunks of time while starting fewer than 20 games each. Superstar Fernando Tatis Jr., just played in his 100th game after missing a large swath of the season because of an injury. Like Tatis, Xander Bogaerts doesn鈥檛 rank among the top-five Padres in at-bats this season because of injury, and he鈥檚 struggled at times when healthy on top of that.
And yet, the Padres have the National League鈥檚 best batting average (.264) and fourth-best on-base plus slugging percentage (.746). Their averages with runners on base (.276) and in scoring position (.270) are second-best in the NL.
Here鈥檚 how Tom Krasovic of the described the Padres鈥 offense earlier this summer, after calling Shildt鈥檚 hiring a home run following the conflict that developed between former Padres manager Bob Melvin and Preller.
鈥淭he Padres have evolved a contact-drive approach that鈥檚 stretched dollars long distances,鈥 Krasovic observed. 鈥淎long with the hitters, Shildt and new hitting coach Victor Rodriguez both deserve free local craft beer for the offense being both more entertaining and less exasperating this year. Instead of imitating the Swingin鈥 Friar, who nearly busts out of his sandals in pursuit of the upper deck, the Padres are banging line drives at MLB鈥檚 highest rate and striking out at its lowest rate.鈥
Shildt鈥檚 Padres also have the NL鈥檚 fourth-best rotation ERA (3.89) and fifth-best bullpen ERA (3.76). They have a veteran star third baseman playing up to his career norms in Manny Machado. They have a 21-year-old former first-round draft pick thriving in All-Star and rookie of the year contender Jackson Merrill. They have a winning record (8-5) against the World Series favorite Dodgers. They had an MLB-best 42 wins after the All-Star break through Friday. They have a legitimate chance to make noise in the postseason.
According to research from OptaSTATS, Shildt鈥檚 Padres this season became the only team to accomplish the following checklist in a single season: throw a no-hitter, turn a triple play, hit back-to-back-to-back home runs and erase an eight-plus run deficit to win a game. Throw in Shildt鈥檚 17-game winning streak with the 2021 Cardinals, and he鈥檚 pulled off some impressive things from that top spot in the dugout. His .563 win-loss percentage as an MLB manager is now fourth-best among active ones, and trails only the Dodgers鈥 Dave Roberts (.626) and the Yankees鈥 Aaron Boone (.584) among those with more than 500 games beneath their belts.
Mozeliak tends to bristle any time Shildt comes up, like he did earlier this season before the Cardinals and Padres played.
鈥淚 look at it as a baseball game,鈥 he told (1120 AM) before that series. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 know what else you want me to say. It鈥檚 a business. People make decisions.鈥
Despite Mozeliak鈥檚 attempts to connect the two, not liking how the Shildt situation was handled has nothing to do with having a positive or negative opinion of Marmol. The real story here is a frustrating, familiar one. Like a lot of people Mozeliak has decided the Cardinals are just fine moving on from, another former Cardinal is thriving while the current ones can鈥檛 come close to saying the same.