The Miami Marlins officially welcomed the 16th manager in franchise history Thursday with the introduction of Skip Schumaker.
The 42-year-old met the media at loanDepot park after accepting the position following four seasons as a coach with both the San Diego Padres and the St. Louis Cardinals.
"It just felt right," he said of his interview with the team last week in California. "High character people, people I wanted to be around."
Marlins general manager Kim Ng said Schumaker left an impression by talking about winning from the outset of their first meeting.
Get South Florida local news, weather forecasts and entertainment stories to your inbox. Sign up for NBC South Florida newsletters.
“Winning doesn’t come easily, honestly,” Ng said. “And there are a lot of steps to it. You not only have to have your process, but you have to have execution.”
Schumaker takes over for Don Mattingly, who managed the Marlins for seven seasons. Mattingly went 443-587 with Miami, winning the NL Manager of the Year award after leading the Marlins to the playoffs in the pandemic-shortened 2020 season.
Schumaker played in the majors for 11 seasons, mostly with the Cardinals, and now gets his first managerial opportunity with Miami — which shares a spring training complex in Jupiter, Florida, with St. Louis.
Sports
Schumaker was a starter for the Cardinals team that won the 2011 World Series. The California native batted .278 in 1,149 games while primarily playing second base and the outfield. He retired in March 2016 while in camp with the Padres on a minor league deal.
