NBC 7’s Derek Togerson explains why the Padres need a new manager in this comment

I love Jayce Tingler. He always seemed to me to be a good man. I hope he wins a World Series one day.

This won’t happen with the Padres and it’s time for him to go.

The writing is on the wall. It does not work. After what we saw last month or so, it became painfully obvious that this is never going to work.

We can talk about the obvious things that showed he was an inferior skipper. The list goes on, but here are some highlights:

• Line-up Building = Using six different head hitters when none of them really lost that spot due to lack of performance is wreaking havoc in a lineup and Eric Hosmer doesn’t deserve more of being a cleaning hitter than Yu Darvish.
• Bullpen Usage = As much as I love Emilio Pagan, he lost the right to manipulate 8^e inning duties in close games and Austin Adams should never be called into a game with runners on base because someone gets kicked.
• Decision making in play = Lots of examples here, but whoever jumps off the page isn’t a double change against the Dodgers, creating a situation where pitchers have to hit in three different innings with the winning run in scoring position . Los Angeles skipper Dave Roberts took Tingler to skipper school that evening.
• Regression of key players = Too many guys have played below their talent level under Tingler. Hosmer, Wil Myers, Tommy Pham, Trent Grisham and Adam Frazier have all struggled to reach their potential this year.

These are the kinds of things that make players start to think they are strategically at a disadvantage in every game and that belief is hard to overcome. We saw several signs of this in the 2^sd halfway through the 2021 season and Jayce was squarely in the hot seat.

However, the last nail in Tingler’s proverbial coffin came on Sunday and he drove it home himself.

He decided not to pitch Fernando Tatis Jr. in the last game of the season at Petco Park. After the game, Tingler was asked about his process of thinking about the decision.

“I thought it was better to get him to stand up.”

This statement highlights, highlights, bold 72 in the lights of Las Vegas, the problem with this manager and what (in my opinion) is the reason he seems to have lost his players’ ear.

Jayce Tingler showed a staggering inability to read the creepy room.

In a vacuum, not starting Tatis in the last home game of the year might not seem like a dismissable offense. The kid is an MVP caliber year and has struggled with injuries all season. Without any playoff appearances, a little rest is probably a good thing for him.

He just CANNOT come home on the last Sunday. Fernando Tatis Jr. is the only reason many Padres fans haven’t sold their tickets in the last 11 home games. He’s the most beloved Padre since Trevor Hoffman and he’s quickly entering Tony Gwynn’s territory. Tatis has been forthright about his love, his commitment to the San Diego fan base and that love has been returned ten times. It would have been the last chance for us to see him in person this year, the last chance for him to put on a show for the people he was committed to for 14 years and for which he sacrificed millions of dollars.

And Tingler didn’t understand.

Jayce sat the kid down because… what? What logical reason is there not to play the face of the franchise which equates to a Fan Appreciation Day?

The only acceptable I can find is a flare up from his shoulder injury and El Nino was physically unable to play which turned out not to be when he struck late in the game.

If Tingler is so oblivious to what is going on around him, the only possible conclusion is that he is the same in the clubhouse.

He cares about his players, no doubt. But he doesn’t connect with them like a successful manager does.

When the Padres were knocked out of the playoffs after another loss to the Braves on Saturday night, Manny Machado was asked if the Padres had the right mix in the dugout and clubhouse. Manny is generally not reluctant. His answer was revealing in its vagueness.

“We have a good group of guys. Our team is the right team to go there. We compete, we crush, we understand each other. We will continue to take it day by day. What must happen will happen. We will move forward. These are things that you look at at the end of the year and you made that decision there. I am here to play baseball. That’s what they pay me for. They don’t pay me for any of these trade moves.

I believe Manny has become the leader of the Padres clubhouse and he’s not going to publicly call his manager. I also believe that if Manny had been sold on Tingler, he would have said so. He had the platform to give Tingler an endorsement and refused to do so.

If you lose the support of your superstars, you lose your clubhouse. Jayce Tingler has lost the clubhouse no matter how much he tells you he thinks he doesn’t.

Here is the gist as I see it. Andy Green went 24-40 in the 2^sd half of 2019 and was made redundant. In the 2^sd Halfway through this year Jayce Tingler is 25-38 and with 6 games to go against the top two teams in the National League, there’s not much reason to believe this result will be significantly better.

If that was enough for Green to send his luggage with a list that no one thought was very good, it should be more than enough to cut ties with Tingler. It is time to go find a proven commodity that will command the respect of the players of the still infinitely talented Padres club house. Who is it ?

Well, that’s a column for another day.

LISTEN: With NBC 7 San Diego’s Darnay Tripp and Derek Togerson behind the mic, on brother will cover all things San Diego Padres. Interviews, analyzes, behind the scenes … the ups, the downs and everything in between. Tap here to find On Friar wherever you listen to podcasts.