Former Marlins manager Don Mattingly happy for Miami’s success under Schumaker, Ng
It’s only natural that Don Mattingly has kept tabs on how the Miami Marlins have been doing this season. He spent seven years as their manager until he the team mutually decided not to renew his contract after the 2022 season finished.
Mattingly is now the bench coach for the Toronto Blue Jays and has watched from afar as the Marlins have become one of MLB’s breakout teams this season.
He got his first up-close-and-personal look at his former team on Monday, when the Marlins opened a three-game series against the Blue Jays with an 11-0 rout at loanDepot park. The win improved Miami to 42-31 on the season, marking the first time the Marlins were 11 games over .500 since the end of the 2009 season. The closest Miami got to that type of winning record under Mattingly came in his first year on the job, when they were nine games over .500 (57-48) on July 31, 2016.
“Obviously, I’m happy for the guys I had over there,” Mattingly said before the series opener Monday. “And [general manager] Kim [Ng] built it the way she wanted it and is doing some things she wanted to do. It’s good to see her have success.”
The same can be said about first-year manager Skip Schumaker, whom Mattingly managed in 2013 with the Los Angeles Dodgers. That team advanced to the National League Championship Series. Schumaker was a utility player for that team, starting 73 games between the outfield and second base and hitting .263 with 16 doubles, 30 RBI and 31 runs scored.
“Skip, he’s one of those guys that you knew was always paying attention, always ready,” Mattingly said. “You don’t think about guys at that point as being managers [later in their career], but as you look back, you can go ‘This is the kind of guy that’s in tune with the game.’ You look back and think ‘Oh, this would have been a guy that was going to be a good manager.’”
Schumaker called that 2013 season “one of my favorite years in the big leagues” and had nothing but praise for how Mattingly managed the club that season.
“He was a player’s manager,” Schumaker said. “I remember that the most. He really cared about the players. You would see him always clapping when you were successful and he knew how hard the game was. I always took that away from him because he played before and he was really successful at it. He knew how hard this thing was. He was a family guy. Preston was on our staff in San Diego, who I loved. He’s just a really good man and good person. We went on to the playoffs and everything. It was a hell of a run that we went on. I learned a lot from him and I’m glad he’s having success over there.”
Mattingly’s Blue Jays are 39-35 on the season, sitting in fourth place in the American League East and one game out of a wild card spot. They have lost three games in a row entering Tuesday and seven of their last 10 overall.
“We’ll see where we go,” Mattingly said. “Hopefully, [the Blue Jays and Marlins] meet up in a really good place.”
Jazz beginning rehab assignment
Marlins center fielder Jazz Chisholm Jr., who hasn’t played since May 13 due to turf toe, will begin a rehab assignment with Triple A Jacksonville on Tuesday, signaling his impending return to the active roster.
Chisholm has been taking batting practice and going through running and fielding drills for more than a week. He was with the team throughout their three-city road trip, completing his rehab and workout regiment under the supervision of the team’s athletic trainers.
This story was originally published June 20, 2023 at 11:03 AM.
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