SAN DIEGO — In the months since he became San Diego’s manager, Mike Shildt has fielded the question a few times about how he’s different, even better, because of the two years passing since he managed the Cardinals and having a view from being in a second organization.
He answers by explaining how he’s the same.
“I still want to win,†Shildt said. “Still the principles that take place, what preparation looks like, attention to detail — that hasn’t changed. You do have a different lens. You look at the game different after two years.â€
Shildt described all that was the same about him in the role from a new vantage point, his spot in the home dugout at Petco Park. He sat there Monday afternoon a few hours before facing the Cardinals — his first pro organization and his first love as a manager — as an opponent for the first time as a manager. He has talked candidly in the years since his sudden dismissal as Cardinals manager about how he expected to be a lifer in the organization, about how jarring it was to be fired and also how he yearned to get another opportunity to manage.
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Less than a week into that opportunity, here comes his former team.
“Listen, there are emotions,†he said. “I’m not going to kid you. I’m human. ... That’s part of my fabric, how I was raised and how I was taught.â€
Just as it’s possible to see how Shildt still is a part of the Cardinals’ fabric.
Across the diamond Monday and down in the visitors’ clubhouse, Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol described what he learned and adopted from Shildt. He echoed Shildt: “Preparation.â€
As an area scout back in 2007, Shildt graded Marmol’s speed at 70 — on the 20-80 scale — and signed the infielder from the College of Charleston for the Cardinals as their sixth-round draft pick. ÁñÁ«ÊÓƵ would spend much of their professional careers within close proximity, rising through the Cardinals system and ranks and then side by side when Shildt became manager of the Cardinals. He named Marmol his bench coach.
“We spent a decent amount of my minor-league experience together, and then all of the time in the big leagues, majority of it, was side by side,†Marmol said. “A lot of it I would narrow it down to preparation. Just having the actual framework for how you prepare and the order in which you do it. And why you do it. That’s definitely an area that he does a really good job with. It’s instilled a decent amount of it in my day to day.â€
The ‘yellow pad’
That preparation includes a practice begun by the late George Kissell, the sage of Cardinals coaches, and that he called “yellow pad.†It was required in the minors. The manager or coach would keep track of things that went right or wrong in the game, gather the team and then read from a yellow legal pad to prompt discussion about how “to attack the next game.†Shildt’s mentor Mark DeJohn did it in the Cardinals minors, just as Shildt did, just as Marmol did.
“It was the norm,†Marmol said.
When Shildt moved to the manager role midway through the 2018 season, re-sparking that kind of baseball dialogue in the Cardinals clubhouse was an emphasis for him and his bench coach, Marmol. It eventually got the nickname “Ball Talk.â€
While it no longer has the name, it still has presence in the Cardinals’ clubhouse.
Part of why the Cardinals sought to bring in veterans Matt Carpenter, Lance Lynn and, during spring training, Brandon Crawford was to spur those discussions.
“We lacked it last year,†Marmol said in his office Monday. “In a sense of being able to enjoy the game. When you enjoy the game, you enjoy playing the game, you enjoy competing. Obviously, it’s more fun when you’re winning. You still find enjoyment in talking through the strategy of the game, different plays that happened, what went wrong, what we could have done differently. And when you do that for 180 days, you’re a hell of a lot better as the season goes. You just expedite or you collapse time when it comes to development. You get to where you want to get to sooner in the season the more you’re able to talk those situations daily.â€
The abrupt end
Shildt, now 55, spent 18 years in the Cardinals organization, and in about 18 hours, his time with the team abruptly ended. Following the team’s walk-off loss in the 2021 NL wild-card game at Dodger Stadium, team officials said they expected to offer Shildt a contract extension. He had just managed the team into a third consecutive playoff berth and was two years removed from being the National League Manager of the Year.
But during the team’s internal meetings following the season, Shildt voiced concern about the direction he felt the club was headed. He took issue with what he thought was a drain of Cardinals fixtures at various levels, according to multiple sources. One example was Chris Carpenter leaving for the Angels.
His comments were critical of some front office choices. When John Mozeliak, president of baseball operations, found out and looked into what Shildt had said, he decided, a working relationship had ruptured. With a year remaining on Shildt contract, he decided not to wait to end ties. The club called its reason for the move “philosophical differences,†but it also was personality clashes.
Both sides had talked about an extension just days earlier, but when Mozeliak phoned Shildt, he warned him it was not the call that Shildt expected.
The Padres offered Shildt a return to the majors through an adviser and special assignment role. While Shildt's name surfaced for other manager positions, it became clear over the past few years that San Diego was a potential home. The leadership saw him work with Fernando Tatis Jr. on his move to right field and during his return. He spent some time in the dugout last season. They got to know him best and knew his fit for them. It was a change of scenery, not necessarily of approach.
Last week, Jurickson Profar galvanized the Padres with a comment he made during a clubhouse meeting. Shildt said they do it every day. Sure sounds like Ball Talk.
“A lot of years, a lot of real good years and a lot of gratitude for my time in St. Louis,†Shildt said. “A lot of growth took place — on the field, personal, professional growth. I owe a lot to a lot of people in that organization. I can’t say enough. My 18 years there, I did everything I could to reward the confidence they had and the opportunities.
“I’m in a great spot here. I love San Diego.â€
Extra: Reliever roundup
Exams completed Monday of Cardinals right-hander Riley O’Brien’s forearm and elbow revealed “nothing alarming,†Marmol said.
A few days after experiencing tightness in his flexor tendon, the reliever returned to St. Louis after being placed on the 15-day injured list Sunday. Imaging taken of his arm did not show any structural damage, Marmol confirmed. The reliever has been diagnosed with a strain of the tendon and treated for inflammation.
“We’re glad we shut it down when we did,†the manager said. “We’re in a good spot.â€
O’Brien pitched an inning in the Cardinals’ opening-day loss to the Dodgers. It was a low-leverage spot, late in the game, with the score tilted to one side. It’s exactly the kind of spot that the Cardinals would now like to find for right-hander Ryan Fernandez. The right-hander, a Rule 5 pick out of Boston’s organization last December, is the only member of the current active roster yet to appear in a game.
“We need to get him in,†Marmol said.
Fernandez’s first appearance will be his major-league debut, and similar to O’Brien, the Cardinals would like to have him and his slide grow into a role. The Cardinals opted not to use him when down Friday night because they felt they had a chance to rally in that game against the Dodgers. The two weekend games were each decided by a run. The Cardinals must keep Fernandez on their active roster all season to gain control of his rights.
Extra bases
No fooling, the Cardinals started Monday 5-5 all time on April Fools’ Day, and they had won four consecutive games played on April 1.
This series is the earliest in the year the Cardinals and Padres ever have played in San Diego. In 1984, the Cardinals and Padres had their first series of the season April 10-11.
Three of the five youngest players in the majors appeared in Monday night’s starting lineups: Jordan Walker (21 years, 315 days); Masyn Winn (22, 210); and Padres starting center fielder Jackson Merrill (20, 348), who is the second-youngest player in the majors.