Kansas City Royals manager Mike Matheny ended his playing career in 2006 after playing 13 successful years and winning four Gold Gloves. He played one of the most critical positions on the field: catcher. A catcher is an on-field coach who has to know every pitcher on the staff. He has to know their tendencies and what makes them successful. A catcher also controls defensive positioning. Matheny excelled at this and brought the skills he learned as a catcher into coaching.
Matheny took over as the St. Louis Cardinals' manager in 2012 and would coach them for seven seasons. During his tenure, Matheny never had a losing season and posted an overall record of 591-474. In 2013, he led the Cardinals to the World Series.
In 2018, Matheny was relieved of his duties. One of the unique things about his time with St. Louis was the team's ability to turn young players into talented and productive major leaguers. Some examples are Matt Carpenter, Lance Lynn, Matt Adams, Shelby Miller and many more. The organization would pair these talented prospects with proven major league talent. Matheny had the urge to coach again and after some time off, he got that opportunity.
At the end of the 2018 season, Matheny joined the Kansas City Royals organization as a special advisor under general manager Dayton Moore. During that time, Matheny worked inside the organization, getting to know the ins and outs of how the Royals functioned. On Halloween of 2019, Mike Matheny was named the Royals' 17th manager in franchise history. Here's what he said about the move then:
I made no bones about it [last year] with Dayton that I'm meant to manage again. I love managing, and I had enough conversations with other people in the league that there might be other opportunities, but they are rare and they are fleeting. You can become irrelevant. So it comes back to what can I do to get better to keep myself relevant in case I get another chance. That year [here] was great; it was great meeting people.
-Matheny, via Jeffrey Flanagan (formerly of MLB.com)
Fast forward to today, and a movement is occurring that Moore and his staff constructed for Matheny. The farm system is making its way to the big leagues, and Matheny is here to lead it. He is about to manage his third Opening Day for the Kansas City Royals. This one will be extraordinary, as the baseball world anticipates the debut of Bobby Witt Jr. If the question is whether Matheny is poised to usher in a new era of Royals baseball, the answer is a resounding yes. The club has exercised its club option on his contract for 2023, after all.
Matheny understands what it's like to be a player. He can relate to the players and knows the commitment it takes to create a successful ball club. He also has experience in taking teams to the postseason and had success there. More importantly, Matheny spent time within the Royals organization studying the prospects he's going to be leading over the next year-plus. Moore believes in Matheny, which speaks volumes — especially with how much respect Moore has within baseball. Matheny may not be perfect, but he's the chosen man for the job.
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