Miami Marlins manager wins a prestigious award!

Neil Raymond

Skip Schumaker / Megan Briggs/GettyImages

The Miami Marlins have a busy off-season ahead, with some intriguing trades to consider. A lot of intriguing trades to be more precise. This attempt to return to the playoffs for two consecutive seasons (a first in team history), is due to the work of manager Skip Schumaker. I made a case for him to win the National League Manager of the Year award, and he did just that!

Skip Schumaker won the National League Manager of the Year award!

Skip Schumaker took the 2022 69-93 Miami Marlins and did significantly better, despite the core staying intact for the most part. The 2023 Miami Marlins did much better, finishing the season with a much improved 84-78 W-L record. The Fish qualified for the playoffs as the second NL Wild Card team. Skip's debut as a Major League manager was amazing and he deserved to be recognized for his achievement.

The runners-up to Skip Schumaker just weren't as good as him. Craig Counsell (at that time) of the Milwaukee Brewers led them to a NL Central title with a 92-70 W-L record. They were swept out of the playoffs by the Arizona Diamondbacks immediately after however. He led them to an only slightly worse 86-76 W-L record last season. Brian Snitker led the Atlanta Braves to a Major League best 104-58 W-L record, which was only slightly better than their 101-61 record from last season.

Brian Snitker and Craig Counsell had good seasons, but Skip Schumaker turned The Fish around and it was more impressive. He deserved the National League Manager of the year award the most. It was a well-deserved honor for the best manager in the National League. The award should always go to the manager that made the biggest impact, and while having the best record certainly matters, Schumaker gave his team the biggest improvement and made the biggest impact.

Skip Schumaker has made one of the greatest debuts for a manager in Major League history. I certainly hope that he can carry over this momentum to next season, and have another strong season on his resume.

Neil Raymond

Neil Raymond has been a lifelong Miami Marlins fan, with the 2003 playoff run being one of his favorite childhood memories. Neil has been called a "walking encyclopedia" for his knowledge of MLB statistics and the sport's history. He follows every game and actually invented his own statistic for player value on his side project BaseballAnalyzed.com. Writing for Fansided's Marlin Maniac since 2022, he also loves Fantasy Baseball and as such is an FSWA member. Neil also loves to travel, read and follow "Futbol" teams: Germany, Argentina, Greece, Inter Miami, Bayern Munich and NYC FC.