BenFred: What Mike Shildt has done in San Diego is special, and Cardinals fans keep score

While conducting research before voting for this seasons 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 philosophical differences can try to keep shut the Shildt chapter or try to twist any mention of the former manager into alleged negative commentary against current manager Oli Marmol most of us know better, dont we? Marmol didnt 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 Shildts 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? Its why plenty around here will be pulling for Shildts 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 baseballs brutal National League West.

But he didnt 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 Diegos 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, theres more.

Yu Darvish and Joe Musgrove, who were supposed to be the top two starters in Shildts 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 doesnt rank among the top-five Padres in at-bats this season because of injury, and hes struggled at times when healthy on top of that.

And yet, the Padres have the National Leagues 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.

Heres how Tom Krasovic of the San Diego Union-Tribune described the Padres offense earlier this summer, after calling Shildts hiring a home run following the conflict that developed between former Padres manager Bob Melvin and Preller.

The Padres have evolved a contact-drive approach thats stretched dollars long distances, Krasovic observed.

Along 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 Friar, who nearly busts out of his sandals in pursuit of the upper deck, the Padres are banging line drives at MLBs highest rate and striking out at its lowest rate.

Shildts Padres also have the NLs 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, Shildts 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 Shildts 17-game winning streak with the 2021 Cardinals, and hes 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 Dave Roberts (.626) and the Yankees 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.

I look at it as a baseball game, he told KMOX (1120 AM) before that series.

I dont know what else you want me to say.

Its a business.

People make decisions.

Despite Mozeliaks 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 cant come close to saying the same..

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