Fish Unfiltered: Skip Schumaker EXCLUSIVE Offseason Interview

A very special guest joins Fish Unfiltered for the first time: Miami Marlins manager Skip Schumaker! Topics covered on Episode 52 with Skip, Isaac Azout, Kevin Barral and Ely Sussman include:

• Winning NL Manager of the Year
• Getting into the postseason and facing Phillies
• Losing Brant Brown to the Mariners
• First impressions of Peter Bendix
• Projected roles for Vidal Bruján and Calvin Faucher
• Managing workloads of Eury Pérez, Jesús Luzardo and Braxton Garrett
• Upgrades the Marlins need to make for 2024
• Will Jazz Chisholm Jr. continue playing center field?
• Why not steal more bases?
• Jesús Sánchez's role
• Evaluating Marlins prospects in person
• Is Tanner Scott your full-time closer?

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In 2023, Schumaker became the fourth Marlins skipper to win NL Manager of the Year and the third to lead them to the playoffs in a full-length season. The club saw a 15-win improvement from the previous year. Schumaker described NL MOY as a "staff award," but that staff will look slightly different in 2024 with his former hitting coach, Brant Brown, becoming the new bench coach of the Seattle Mariners.

"Grateful that we had him, but I think he left this place better," Schumaker tells Fish On First. "We're gonna take a lot of what Brant used and apply it this year as well."

Another notable change: Kim Ng is no longer Miami's general manager. Schumaker met new president of baseball operations Peter Bendix over dinner earlier this month.

"We talk every day," Schumaker says. "You're spending a ton of time with that person. Peter seems like a great guy so far. We've had a lot of really good conversations."

For all of the positives that 2023 brought, the Marlins were outscored by their opponents. They'll have a difficult time returning to the postseason if that's the case again. Schumaker acknowledges that:

"Offensively, we need to get better. Trying to figure out how Jazz (Chisholm Jr.) can have a full season—that would be awesome...When he's on the field, it changes everything. Hopefully (Avisaíl) García has a really good offseason and see what that looks like in spring training...Nick Fortes, we have some ideas on how he could get better. He had a great season defensively. How does he move the needle on the offensive side? Can (Jesús) Sánchez get better against lefties?

"There's different ways just internally that we can get better and figure out how we can get our own guys better. I hate the saying, 'this is just who they are.' That drives me nuts. Maybe I believe in our guys TOO much, but I think when you're a manager, that's what you're supposed to do."

"The season is tough on family," Schumaker says, "so I'm making up for lost time and trying to be a dad and a husband" this winter. He'll also be hosting his annual baseball skills camp for kids from Dec. 22-23 benefitting The Jessie Rees Foundation.

Follow Skip (@SSchumaker55), Kevin (@kevin_barral), Isaac (@IsaacAzout), Ely (@RealEly) and Fish On First (@FishOnFirst) on Twitter. Complete Miami Marlins coverage here at FishOnFirst.com.

Our Fish On First podcast programming includes The Offishial Show, Fish Unfiltered, State of the Fish, Swimming Upstream, Fishology and What a Relief. All new episodes are posted to FishOnFirst.com/podcasts. You can subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, Podbean, Megaphone or wherever you normally get your pods from.