Padres' Fans Feeling Confident in Mike Shildt Hire, According to The Athletic Survey

Survey reveals fans overall belief in Shildt.

It seems like Padres fans are overall satisfied with their latest manager hiring of Mike Shildt. Shildt was promoted to the role of manager after Bob Melvin left for the San Francisco Giants despite leading the Padres to the NLCS in 2022. 

In a recent poll by The Athletic, fans indicated positive feelings toward the hire.

In the survey by The Athletic's Dennis Lin, there were five different responses fans could choose from on the hiring. The top response was "excellent" followed by "very good," "good," "fair" and "poor" at the bottom. The vast majority of the responses were "good" or higher, with 90.9% of the voters selecting one of the top three options. 

Specifically, 22.2% of the voters called the hire excellent, 39.5% said very good, and 29.5% said good. Following the good or better voters, 6.9% called the hire "fair" while 2.2% called it poor.

"Shildt seems to be making a positive early impression with the fan base. It will be interesting to see how Shildt, who was unceremoniously fired after a successful tenure with the St. Louis Cardinals, navigates his second chance under somewhat delicate circumstances"

Per Dennis Lin of The Athletic

It's not surprising that the fanbase is excited about the Shildt hiring as Shildt had an overall successful tenure during his three and a half seasons as the St. Louis Cardinals manager. He finished with a 252-199 record and two separate 90-win seasons. 

Shildt led the Cardinals to the playoffs twice, including an NLCS run in 2019 when he also won the NL Manager of the Year. When Shildt and the Cardinals parted ways after the 2021 season, Shildt joined the Padres in a player development role, which he has served over the last two seasons, both of which have been winning seasons for the Padres. 

On top of this, Shildt has not only relied on outside staff hires but prioritized continuity on his staff to help their players.