The Marlins have settled on their next coach, and on Tuesday night announced their appointment to Cardinals coach Skip Schumaker. He replaced Don Mattingly, who spent seven years in the role before he and the club mutually agreed to separate.
“After an extensive process, it is with great pride and excitement that we announce Skip Shoemaker as manager of the Miami Marlins,” Chairman and Principal Owner Bruce Sherman said in the statement announcing the news. Shoemaker made a statement of his own. “I am so excited and grateful that Bruce (General Manager Kim Ng) and the Marlins organization have given me the opportunity to manage a very talented team. Delivering a successful and sustainable culture with the anticipation of entering the post-season is the next step for this organization and South Florida – and I can’t wait to get started.”
As another disappointing season approaches in Miami, it has been reported that Mattingly and the club will go their separate ways. Over the past few weeks, Recent Reports He indicated that the four finalists are Schumacher, Rice coach Matt Quattaro, Astros coach on the bench Joe Espada and Yankees coach Luis Rojas third.
Shoemaker, 43 in February, played in the major leagues from 2005 to 2015, spending time with the Cardinals, Dodgers and Reds. He signed a minor league contract with the Padres for 2016 but announced his retirement in March. It didn’t take long to get involved in post-play roles, as he was appointed by Padres as their first head coach for 2018. Prior to the 2020 season, the brothers gave him the title of “Associate Manager.”
A year ago, the Cardinals abruptly broke up with Director Mike Scheldt despite a solid performance in the dugout. Once they promoted Ole Marmol to take over, they suddenly had a vacancy in the bench coach position and hired Schoomaker to take over. The Marmol-Schumaker pairing appears to be working fine, as the cards moved to 93-69 in 2022 and reclaimed the central division. However, the club will now be looking for a new coach on the bench for the second year in a row.
For Marilyn’s family, they’re looking to take a turn after years of frustration. Far from the 2020 season cut short for the pandemic, they haven’t played in the playoffs since 2003. There were several frustrating stops and starts for fans at the time, as 2022 seemed to have been the year the Marlins made a serious leap in contention. They had a strong staff on the field and supplemented their position player mix by introducing external additions such as Jorge SolerAnd the Avisiel GarciaAnd the Jacob Stallings And the Joy Wendell. Unfortunately, these four dealt with injury, poor performance, or both. When combined with injuries and disappointing results elsewhere on the roster, Miami was knocked out of the competition once again and ended up scoring 69-93.
Ng and the rest of the front office are surely hoping that Shoemaker will be helpful in turning things around. It can be hard to quantify the influences of the coaches, but there’s no doubt that Shoemaker made a rapid advance through the ranks. Only a few years ago he was still playing, and quickly joined the major leagues as a coach without having to take a short stint at first. From there, he got promoted in San Diego, then was soon robbed by two different organizations, showing the respect he has around the game. If that wasn’t enough, Marlins players quickly offer their approval, with Jazz Chisholm Jr. And the Sandy Alcantara Both take to social media to share their enthusiasm (Twitter links).
Of course, a manager alone cannot turn a poor team into a champion. There is still plenty of work for the Marlins to do this winter in upgrading their roster. But for now, they could cross one item off their to-do list, adding a young, up-and-coming manager who appears to be held in high esteem throughout the match.
Craig Misch of SportsGrid and The Miami Herald He was the first to report that the Marlins were employing Shoemaker.
Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.
