The book on Craig Stammen coming into this season was that he’s authentic and sturdy, that he’d remain the same person across the 162 games, that as a former assistant to A.J. Preller he wouldn’t clash with Preller as Bob Melvin did and that he would tell truths to Padres stars they may not want to hear because he’d pitched for 13 years in the big leagues and relates well to ballplayers.
The scouting report seems on the mark, even if we’re barely past the season’s one-fifth mark.
Although I can’t speak to how Stammen handles tough-love talks with his stars, he has come off as stable and bright and communicative without being wooden about it.
The 42-year-old is not a Captain Queeg in disguise. He won’t be revealed as paranoid, confrontational and overly stubborn when the storms hit these Padres.
I’d be shocked otherwise.
Yes, but what can Stammen do about the Padres’ hitting, which hasn’t inspired much long-term confidence, even with the team taking the National League’s fifth-best record into Tuesday night’s game in San Francisco?
Can Stammen get more out of Padres hitters?
There, he’s being confronted by a hard universal baseball truth: a manager can make changes to the lineup and hold players out of the starting lineup or whole games, as Stammen has done, if not to everyone’s satisfaction, but those tend to be short-term fixes, if they fix anything.
By last October, when several Padres hitters came a cropper against the Chicago Cubs in the wild-card playoff series, it seemed unlikely that either manager Mike Shildt or his batting coach could have fixed the problem.
A former reliever, Stammen can bring expertise to Padres pitchers and their coaches. This separates him from many other managers.
On the other hand, several other managers can draw upon their big-league experiences as hitters, fielders and baserunners.
One small but not universal victory that’s emerged: Stammen said, quite plausibly, that he doesn’t try to be something he’s not. When he attends the team’s hitting meetings, he defers to the technical know-how of the hitting coach he hired, former big-league outfielder Steven Souza Jr., and other Padres staffers in their respective niches.
“My role is kind of just overall team messaging during those meetings,” he said.
Erik Greupner, Chairman John Seidler, Craig Stammen, and Manny Machado #13, and Steven Souza Jr. pose for a photo after Machado was presented with a Louisville Silver Slugger Award before their game Colorado Rockies at Petco Park on Thursday, April 9, 2026 in San Diego, California. (Meg McLaughlin / The San Diego Union-Tribune)
He contributes there, he said, by “being an encourager, complimenting them on the things we do well and then also holding them accountable when things just aren’t going maybe the best and where think we can improve.”
Leaders ought to respect expertise boundaries. Many don’t. Power clouds their thinking.
“For me personally, I need to be careful with it because I’m a pitcher,” Stammen said. “I haven’t sat in that (batter’s) box very often. And so, those messages mostly come from the hitting department, the guys that have been there, done that with those guys. But, I can always support those guys the best way that I can.”
During the game, when everyone’s more keyed up, Stammen said he maintains the same approach.
“It’s pretty basic coming out of my mouth,” he said.
“One of my biggest strengths is encouraging people and patting ’em on the back and putting my arm around ’em and giving them confidence,” he said, “and whether that has to do anything with hitting approach or their swing, probably not — but them feeling good about themselves, that we care about ’em and that it’s OK to make a mistake, that’s kind of my role.”
Stammen does have expertise in the pitcher-hitter duels and will share it with Padres hitters.
“The one thing I can provide in some of those meetings is, when we get a pitcher and he has a certain type of repertoire, I can comment on that repertoire and how that pitcher is probably trying to get a certain hitter out,” he said. “I can talk about that, that’s pretty common. It’s just a different perspective that the hitters can have from a pitcher’s perspective rather than just from a hitter’s perspective.”
San Diego Padres manager Craig Stammen looks on before a game against the San Francisco Giants at Petco Park on April 1, 2026 in San Diego, CA. (K.C. Alfred / The San Diego Union-Tribune)
Stammen’s response to the cold start to the season by a few Padres regulars has been typical of managers throughout baseball early in a 162-game marathon.
He has moved hitters up and down the lineup, although some of those moves may have been matchup-driven.
In public comments, he has praised the players’ work ethic and resilience. He has invoked “the back of the baseball card” of players who’ve had multiple productive seasons, such as Fernando Tatis Jr., Jake Cronenworth and Jackson Merrill.
If a hitter can’t get untracked, usually by late May or June, a manager will play other cards.
He might drop a hitter to a low-profile spot. Or platoon him.
It’ll be Stammen’s job to maintain a clear, trusting relationship with every player, come what may.
He may be an encourager, but at some point, every manager is an enforcer.