In one of the closest races we have had in recent history, Miami Marlins skipper Skip Schumaker took home the first NL Manager of the Year award of his career.
Considering it was his first year as a major league manager, he can say he has 100 percent efficiency so far.
Schumaker led the Marlins to the postseason with a limited roster, a mediocre offense, and a low payroll.
He worked his magic to finish with an 84-78 record and narrowly beat the 83-79 Chicago Cubs for one of the last Wild Card spots in the National League.
In the minds of voters, that was enough to win the most prestigious managerial award ahead of Craig Counsell (who did a similar thing with the Milwaukee Brewers), and Brian Snitker, who led the Atlanta Braves to a 104-win season.
Mark Feinsand of MLB.com posted the final voting results, and you can see that writers had different approaches and ways of thinking regarding the award:
Here is the full breakdown of NL Manager of the Year voting: pic.twitter.com/I1p0b9TEFJ
— Mark Feinsand (@Feinsand) November 14, 2023
Schumaker was first with 72 points, Counsell was second with 51, and Snitker finished third with 48.
That’s not all: Torey Lovullo of the Arizona Diamondbacks was fourth with 42 points, and Dave Roberts of the Los Angeles Dodgers finished fifth with 41.
All five received at least four first-place votes.
Even David Bell of the Cincinnati Reds got a first-place vote.
There were a lot of competent managers in the National League this year, some of them working in adverse conditions.
In the end, Schumaker was the winner, and considering what he had to work with, it was a deserving result.
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