Wizard Recommends Cards

On this page

The Kansas City Royals Decide Hire Mike Matheny as Next Manager of the Ball Club

Introduction

The Kansas City Royals Decide Hire Mike Matheny as Next Manager of the Ball Club

The Kansas City Royals recently announced they have decided to name Mike Matheny as the next manager of their ball club. He is the 17th manager in the franchise’s history since the Royals were founded in 1969 by Ewing Kauffman.

Matheny had previously managed the Saint Louis Cardinals from 2012 to 2018. He had success in this role early on as the Cardinals won the National League pennant in 2013. He was able to lead St. Louis to a winning record in each and every season as their manager, but with the mediocrity of the ball club they were not meeting expectations and making the MLB postseason the last few years he managed the ball club. Matheny was fired by the Saint Louis Cardinals midway through the 2018 MLB season.

Previous Position with the Team

Matheny spent the previous year as a special advisor to the Royals. He worked on many different levels of the organization such as scouting and player development. As Ned Yost retired at the culmination of the 2019 MLB season the Royals were in need of a new manager for their team. Kansas City was heavily impressed by the leadership and baseball knowledge of Mike Matheny so they named him the manager of the Royals beginning in 2020.

MLB Playing Career

Matheny was a catcher for 4 different Major League Baseball teams throughout his playing career. He started out with the Milwaukee Brewers in 1994, and he stayed with Milwaukee through the 1998 season. He played briefly with the Toronto Blue Jays just for the 1999 season. From there he went to Saint Louis Cardinals from 2000 to 2004. Matheny finished his playing career with the San Francisco Giants from 2005 – 2006. Matheny won four MLB Gold Glove Awards at the catching position (2000, 2003, 2004, 2005). He also has extensive experience in the MLB postseason as a player and as a manager.

Career Managerial Statistics

Rk Year Age Tm Lg   W L W-L% T G Finish Wpost Lpost W-L%post Challenges Overturned Overturn% Ejections  
1 2012 41 St. Louis Cardinals NL   88 74 0.543 0 162 2 7 6 0.538       2  
2 2013 42 St. Louis Cardinals NL   97 65 0.599 0 162 1 9 8 0.529       4 NL Pennant
3 2014 43 St. Louis Cardinals NL   90 72 0.556 0 162 1 4 5 0.444 32 13 40.60% 2  
4 2015 44 St. Louis Cardinals NL   100 62 0.617 0 162 1 1 3 0.25 31 16 51.60% 3  
5 2016 45 St. Louis Cardinals NL   86 76 0.531 0 162 2 0 0   54 28 51.90% 1  
6 2017 46 St. Louis Cardinals NL   83 79 0.512 0 162 3 0 0   50 26 52.00% 3  
7 2018 47 St. Louis Cardinals NL 1st of 2 47 46 0.505 0 93 3 0 0   33 14 42.40% 0  
          7 years 591 474 0.555 0 1065 1.9 21 22 0.488 200 97 48.5%% 15 1 Pennant

Career Managerial Tendencies

:                                                      
        Stealing 3rd       Sac Bunts       Intentional Walks       Substitutions                      
Stealing 2nd                                                      
Rk Year Age Tm Lg G Ch Att Rate Rate+ Ch Att Rate Rate+ Ch Att Rate Rate+ PA IBB Rate Rate+ PH/G PH/G+ PR/G PR/G+ P/G P/G+
1 2012 41 STL NL 162 1414 89 6.30% 68 945 13 1.40% 68 1324 32 2.40% 137 6158 28 0.50% 73 1.65 110 0.14 95 4.1 102
2 2013 42 STL NL 162 1312 54 4.10% 57 875 11 1.30% 82 1202 23 1.90% 101 6104 26 0.40% 70 1.51 103 0.09 79 4 99
3 2014 43 STL NL 162 1371 64 4.70% 57 906 10 1.10% 67 1328 20 1.50% 97 6069 35 0.60% 101 1.59 107 0.14 111 4 100
4 2015 44 STL NL 162 1392 83 6.00% 76 928 6 0.60% 36 1289 25 1.90% 144 6134 37 0.60% 99 1.67 109 0.22 153 4.2 99
5 2016 45 STL NL 162 1380 76 5.50% 70 920 11 1.20% 56 1298 15 1.20% 89 6164 35 0.60% 87 1.47 98 0.23 186 4 92
6 2017 46 STL NL 162 1353 76 5.60% 80 873 15 1.70% 107 1247 17 1.40% 117 6153 50 0.80% 129 1.7 107 0.15 147 4.4 103
7 2018 47 STL NL 93 771 40 5.20% 70 522 2 0.40% 27 724 13 1.80% 187 3603 24 0.70% 101 1.46 91 0.13 109 4.5 101
  7 years       1065 8993 482 5.40% 68 5969 68 1.10% 65 8412 145 1.70% 118 40385 235 0.60% 94 1.58 104 0.16 127 4.1 99

Media Statements

"When I left," Matheny explained, "I went home to my wife and my five amazing kids and I said, 'I don't know how to explain it, but this is where I'm meant to be."

"He has interacted with leadership of all levels. He's spent time in our rookie league, with the medical staff, evaluating people for the draft," says Kansas City Royals general manager, Dayton Moore. "As Mike interacted with all those people, to a man, they were amazed by his leadership."

`"I needed two days. I don't know why two days," Matheny stated in regards to how long he needed after being fired from managing the Cardinals. "I loved playing the game, but what I truly found I love to do was coach and manage."

"They aspire to play for Mike," Moore expressed, "and that's ultimately what sold us on him."

"Our entire organization is delighted to announce and celebrate the hiring of Mike Matheny," Moore exclaimed. "Every department has had the pleasure to work and interact with him this past season. Through this interaction, it became very clear to our leadership team that Mike is the obvious person to lead our baseball team. Mike Matheny is a passionate leader with strong virtues, intelligence, and a relentless commitment to help players reach their full potential. We are looking forward to him and Kristin being a part of this very special city."

Sources:

“Royals name Mike Matheny as new manager”, espn.com, October 31, 2019.

“Kansas City Royals hire former Cardinals manager Mike Matheny as their new skipper: Matheny joined the Royals organization as a special advisor last November”, Katherine Acquavella, cbssports.com, October 31, 2019.

“Mike Matheny”, baseball-reference.com, November 8, 2019.

Written by: David Green