Craig Stammen’s first postseason series as a manager made one thing look easy: knowing exactly when to push the right buttons.
The Padres didn’t sweep the Cubs by accident. They did it because their roster was deeper, their pitching was nastier, and Stammen kept putting the right pieces in the right spots without acting like he needed to save anything for later.
Chicago was chasing tomorrow. Stammen managed like tomorrow didn’t matter yet.
That’s a pretty strong answer to whatever doubts were still hanging around after A.J. Preller gave the job to a first-time manager with an unusual résumé. Stammen looked ready for the stage from the start.
The clearest example came in Game 2, and it was as sharp as it was decisive. Gavin Sheets had spent much of September in a walking boot after suffering a plantar plate tear in his left foot.
The Padres knew he had limitations in the field. They also knew he could still hurt right-handed pitching.
So Stammen held him back until the moment fit. When Cubs manager Craig Counsell turned to right-hander Daniel Palencia with two outs in the fourth inning, Stammen had the matchup he wanted. Sheets stepped in and crushed a 100.8 mph fastball for a two-run homer, flipping a tight 2-1 game into a 4-1 lead.
Sheets got just one plate appearance in the whole series. That was enough.
Stammen said the Padres had gone over that possibility again and again with their pro and advanced scouting departments. They kept an injured hitter on the roster because they believed he could change one specific moment, and they waited until that moment showed up.
His handling of Nick Pivetta mattered just as much. Pivetta gave the Padres 3 1/3 innings and helped put them in position to advance. Then, when Chicago scored in the fourth and the top of the Cubs’ order came back around, Stammen went straight to work.
Bradgley Rodriguez, Jason Adam, Adrian Morejon and Mason Miller handled the final 5 2/3 innings and didn’t allow a run. Only three Cubs reached base against that group.
That bullpen setup began the night before, when Michael King threw seven scoreless innings in the Padres’ 8-0 win and let Stammen save his best relievers for the clincher. King gave him a fresh bullpen, and Stammen used it right away.
Preller’s managerial calls have drawn plenty of criticism over the years, and some of it was deserved. The Padres have cycled through managers while carrying a roster built to win, and another bad hire would have looked like a front office trying to protect itself. Stammen has started to make that concern feel a lot less relevant.
He’s also showing how he fits all the parts together. And he hasn’t gotten cautious under the pressure.
After the game, he told his players they had 13 bricks to lay and had finished two. It was the right tone: celebrate now, but don’t lose sight of the job ahead.
In Other News...
Padres Have Every Right To Be Furious About This Game 1 Twist
A strange break in Game 1 of the NLDS put the Padres in an early hole before the baseball really had a chance to breathe. Ty France sent a ball skyward at American Family Field, it struck a cable supporting the roof, and Jackson Chourio came down with it for an out. It was the kind of play that makes everyone in the ballpark stop and check the rule book, even if the answer winds up being more mundane than the reaction.
Under the parks ground rules, the ball stays live if it hits the cable above fair territory, so the ruling was correct. Still, the setting only added to the frustration for San Diego, with MLB controlling whether the roof is opened or closed in the postseason and the roof closed for this game. For a team trying to seize an early edge in October, it was the sort of twist that leaves plenty of room for argument, even if not much room for protest. [Read more 🡒]
Padres Open NLDS With Brutal Ending Fans Wont Stop Debating
The Padres NLDS opener in Milwaukee came down to one of those October moments that can linger long after the final pitch. San Diego dropped Game 1, 3-2, but the conversation afterward centered on Ty Frances drive in the top of the ninth, a ball that looked for a moment like it might flip the game and the series with one swing.
Instead, it hit the closed roof at American Family Field and was caught by Brewers left fielder Jackson Chourio for an out, a ruling the Padres challenged before it was upheld under the stadiums ground rules. Milwaukee then finished off the final out, leaving San Diego to regroup and leaving fans to keep arguing about a play that felt one step away from changing everything. [Read more 🡒]
Brewers Got A Massive Playoff Break Thanks To One Bizarre Bounce
A strange break in Milwaukee helped turn one of Game 1s biggest swings into a routine out, and the Padres were left to shake their heads. Ty France sent a deep fly toward the roof at American Family Field, where the ball took an odd bounce and was ultimately caught by Jackson Chourio, erasing what looked like a possible go-ahead homer for San Diego.
Craig Stammen challenged the call, but the umpires let it stand under the parks ground rule, which treated the ball as fair after it hit the roof. It was the kind of play that can feel unique to one stadium, one postseason game, and one unlucky sequence, especially since the balls path probably would have played differently in most major league parks. [Read more 🡒]