Mike Shildt Has Interim Tag Removed, Named Manager

Mike Shildt managed his first game as a MLB manager on July 15, 2018 against the Cincinnati Reds. That was a day after Mike Matheny got fired. The St. Louis Cardinals were 47-46 in 3rd place in the NL Central right at the All-Star break. Something had to be done. Maybe the Cardinals waited too long to fire Mike Matheny, but they did. Mike Shildt was named interim manager. He ended up winning his first game as manager. Under Mike Shildt the Cardinals have gone 26-12. Since the All-Star break the Cardinals have 25 wins, the most in the MLB. The Cardinals have won 9 consecutive series, which is their first time since 2009. Before that happened in 2009, the last time a Cardinals team won 9 consecutive series was in 1944.

On Tuesday afternoon, the Cardinals decided to remove the interim tag from Mike Shildt naming him the organizations 50th manager in franchise history. Shildt, 50, gets a two-year contract through 2020. Shildt started out with the Cardinals as a scout in 2004, he served as an area scout in North Carolina, South Carolina, and Virginia. At the time of his hiring Shildt told the Cardinals he wanted the change to coach. He served as a part-time coach for two seasons. He got a full-time coaching position in 2006. In 2009, the Cardinals made Shildt manager for the Johnson City Cardinals. He went 37-30. In Shildt's second season as manager, he guided them to a record of 42-24. His team won the Appalachian League championship. Shildt ended up being named St. Louis Cardinals Minor League Manager of the Year. Shildt also was named Appalachian Manager of the Year.

The next season, in 2011, Shildt's team repeated as league champions. That was the first time Johnson City had won two league championships back to back since 1975, and 1976. In 2012, Shildt moved up to manage the Double-A Springfield Cardinals. He managed them for five seasons. In his first season as their manager, they won their first ever Texas League Championship. That team was named Baseball America's Team of the year. Shildt later managed the Triple-A Memphis Redbirds from 2015-2016.

Cardinals players seem to have responded to Mike Shildt well since he became manager. He works well with the younger players, which is something the Cardinals wanted Mike Matheny to do. You can tell the players respect Mike Shildt a lot. They talk on the field, and are playing well together. Is it maybe too soon or should the Cardinals have waited until after the season? Maybe, but to me if the wheels were to fall off that would have been on Sunday because of Saturday's 9-1 loss in Colorado to the Rockies at Coors Field. Instead they bounced back well on Sunday and won 12-3.

The Cardinals went 5-1 on their recent road trip. The last time a Cardinals team went 5-1 on a road trip was in 2008. Shildt has also managed a lot of the current players in the minors. That's a plus when a manager knows the players well, and they know him.

On paper it seems like a win-win for both sides.