The San Diego Padres have named Mike Shildt of Charlotte, North Carolina as their new manager according to Bernie Wilson of The Associated Press. The term of the contract is for two years. The Padres were in search of a new manager because their previous manager Bob Melvin of Palo Alto, California, left the San Diego Padres organization with one year left on his Padres contract to be the new manager of the San Francisco Giants. Shildt meanwhile has four years as managerial experience with the St. Louis Cardinals. This past year he was the Padres’s third base coach and worked in their player development department.
Four years managing Cardinals
Shildt was the manager of the Cardinals from 2018 to 2021. He had a record of 252 wins and 199 losses in 451 games for a winning percentage of .559. In three of the four seasons, the Cardinals made the postseason. In 2019, the Cardinals beat the Atlanta Braves in five games in the National League Divisional Series before being swept by the eventual World Series champion, Washington Nationals in the National League Championship Series. In 2020, the Cardinals lost two games to one to the Padres in the National League Wildcard Series. In 2021, the Cardinals lost 3-1 to the Los Angeles Dodgers in a single game elimination contest to determine the National League Wildcard winner.
2019 National League Manager of the Year
Shildt led the Cardinals to the National League Central Division title in 2019. They had a record of 91 wins and 71 losses, and beat the second place Milwaukee Brewers by two games. Shildt became the third Cardinals manager to be named the National League Manager of the Year. He followed Whitey Herzog of New Athens, Illinois, who won 101 games with the Cardinals in 1985, and Tony La Russa of Tampa, Florida, who won 97 games with the Cardinals in 2002.
Padres underachieved in 2023
With all of the talent the Padres had in 2022, they were not very successful on the field. They definitely underachieved as a unit, and as a result, did not make the postseason with a record of 82 wins and 80 losses.
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