As a person, Craig Stammen reminds me a little of a former Padres manager.
Like Bruce Bochy, he’s comfortable with who he is. There’s no phoniness, no pretension.
There’s a lightness to him, but Stammen comes off as centered. Like Bochy, he’s married with children.
One more common trait: In Stammen’s current job, his first as a manager or a coach at any level, he has shown that he can acknowledge when he may have erred with a baseball chess move or two.
But, like with Bochy, his acknowledgments don’t compromise his players. Ballplayers will quickly sniff out a manager who lacks the temperament and ballast for the job. Those managers are dead men walking.
Stammen is in the clear there.
As a tactician, Stammen, 42, is just starting out.
While baseball seems to move at a leisurely pace, the game can move at warp speed in the dugout. I’ve seen numerous bright folks within Major League Baseball who know the sport inside out but couldn’t think fast and clearly enough to run a game well.
Bochy was far from a finished product when he took over the Padres as a rookie manager.
Just a season-plus later, his veteran-laden team lost 19 of 23 games. Bochy told friends he feared club president Larry Lucchino would fire him. From the start, he wondered if Lucchino might want someone flamboyant, which Bochy certainly was not.
As it turned out, Bochy had the mind for the job. The game was not too fast for him. His background as a big-league catcher seemed to pay off there. He became a wizard at bullpen management, a factor in his four World Series-winning runs.
Manager A.J. Hinch #14 of the Detroit Tigers and manager Craig Stammen of the San Diego Padres stand at home plate with umpires before a game on opening day at Petco Park on March 26, 2026 in San Diego, CA. (K.C. Alfred / The San Diego Union-Tribune)
It’s unknown whether Stammen can win often at baseball chess. He’ll draw from his own experiences, including his days as a relief pitcher and a versatile employee in the Padres’ front office.
The Bochy overlap, in just one area, is only one piece to the puzzle.
Still, A.J. Preller improved his managerial-hire game when he invested time and effort to get to know Bochy — visiting him twice at his home in Tennessee a few years ago, when Bochy was contemplating whether he wanted to get back into it.
Regarding Stammen’s baseball moves so far, let’s start with the best stuff.
I loved the creative decision to move Fernando Tatis Jr. to second base for spot starts.
Tatis responded well, embracing his infield past. The fresh challenge engaged his mind at a time when Tatis had to be feeling the frustration of hitting into frequent bad luck.
The Tatis move expanded the team’s flexibility, an increasingly important trait in today’s game. It gave needed at-bats to backups Nick Castellanos and Ty France, about whom the Padres must get answers, while buying rest for middle infielders Xander Bogaerts and Jake Cronenworth.
What I liked most about the move was this: Stammen isn’t managing scared.
The risk of it backfiring was real. Say Tatis suffered an injury while trying to turn a double play, something that practice sessions can’t simulate well. What if he made an errant throw that cost the team a win?
Imagine the criticism if one of his replacements in right field had botched a play or two in a defeat.
Stammen was willing to take those risks. He trusted that the ultra-athletic Tatis, like the Dodgers’ Mookie Betts in recent years, could handle the move from right field to the dirt.
Stammen gets some credit for this, too: The Padres, on balance, have come out ahead on the basepaths. They’re erring on the aggressive side and, for the most part, have made it work.
Don’t overlook that Luis Campusano’s hitting fed into a pair of recent wins over the Rockies. I’m not sure Campusano would be on the team if Bob Melvin or Mike Shildt were still the manager.
Adrian Morejon #50 of the gives the ball to Craig Stammen of the San Diego Padres during the eighth inning against the Colorado Rockies at Petco Park on Friday, April 10, 2026 in San Diego, California. (Meg McLaughlin / The San Diego Union-Tribune)
Yet, somewhat oddly, a handful of Stammen’s pitching decisions have seemed curious.
I thought Stammen, a former reliever, stuck too long with two relievers and a starter.
Ahead, the inevitable downturns will tell us more about Stammen. I’d be surprised if they reveal surprises.
“A huge part of the role is to be the steady voice, the one that’s not riding the highs and lows of the game,” said Padres reliever Jason Adam, 34. “Obviously, they experience ‘em. But they’re the voice of reason and the voice of discipline. He’s sure of himself. He knows who he is. He knows where his value is.”
Adam added that Stammen has “a great baseball mind.”
“So, he has the complete picture,” Adam said. “So much of baseball is just being prepared — and then responding when things go crazy. He’s the right mind for that. He’s got a steady mind, a bright mind.”
Sixteen games, 10 wins. Good moves. Curious moves.
Call it a nice start for someone whose prior managing gig was shepherding an under-7 team in tiny Versailles, Ohio.