When Mike Shildt took over for Mike Matheny as manager of the St. Louis Cardinals in 2018, it seemed that the entire fanbase gave a collective sigh of relief. The Cardinals had been sitting around .500 for much of the season, and they hadn’t achieved their customary success in three years.
When Shildt took the reins, it signaled not only a changing of leadership but also a change in fundamentals. This article details what those changes were, but nobody knew what to expect come September. As it turned out, there were some tough times ahead, but Shildt weathered those storms well.