{"id":100130,"date":"2025-05-08T23:47:36","date_gmt":"2025-05-09T03:47:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/?p=100130"},"modified":"2025-05-08T23:47:36","modified_gmt":"2025-05-09T03:47:36","slug":"shelton-the-pirates-retrospective","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2025\/05\/08\/shelton-the-pirates-retrospective\/","title":{"rendered":"Shelton and the Pirates: The Good, the Bad, the Ugly, and the Stupid"},"content":{"rendered":"

That white smoke coming from Rome wasn\u2019t meant to signal the dismissal<\/a> of manager Derek Shelton by the Pittsburgh Pirates. As Catholics worldwide celebrate a new Pope, Pirates fans celebrate a new manager in hometown kid Don Kelly. Cardinals had a hand in both moves, although it was the ones in St. Louis who might have put the final nail in Shelton\u2019s coffin by sweeping his Pirates in three games.<\/p>\n

Shelton and the Pirates: A Retrospective<\/h3>\n

Shelton finished with a record of 306-440 over five years plus 38 games. His teams finished last three times and fourth twice in the National League Central Division, and he leaves with the 12-26 Pirates sitting in last place. That the ax would fall<\/a> wasn\u2019t surprising in light of the Pirates\u2019 recent play. As one might imagine, Shelton wasn\u2019t popular in Pittsburgh. Fans questioned his in-game strategy and unwillingness to stick to a set lineup and play \u201csmall ball.\u201d They charged him with being too easy on the players. But we\u2019ve seen him get animated with umpires \u2013 he had 16 career ejections \u2013 so it\u2019s easy to imagine he could be that way with his players behind the scenes.<\/p>\n

By all accounts, however, Shelton was a hard worker. However, once Shelton took the gig as the Pirates\u2019 pilot, general manager Ben Cherington began to gut the team<\/a> of established players. Gone were Starling Marte, Josh Bell, Joe Musgrove, and Jameson Taillon. Shelton was forced to give significant playing time to the likes of Anthony Alford, Michael Chavis, Ben Gamel, Erik Gonz\u00e1lez, Colin Moran, Alfonso Rivas III, Ka\u2019ai Tom, Cole Tucker, and Josh VanMeter. In his press conference discussing the firing, Cherington said, \u201cIf I had done my job perfectly for five years, might not be meeting with you today.\u201d No kidding.<\/p>\n

During this recent cold spell that saw the Pirates lose 10 of 11, Shelton looked as though the job had finally beaten him down. Let\u2019s look back at his tenure.<\/p>\n

December 4, 2019: Pirates Hire Shelton<\/h3>\n

After his predecessor unceremoniously botched the firing of Clint Hurdle, new GM Cherington went to work on a search for a replacement. Shelton was chosen over several candidates that included former Pirates bench coach Jeff Banister and a cast of up-and-coming, analytically attuned managers in waiting. He came with an impressive resume: Tampa Bay Rays hitting coach (2009-16), Toronto Blue Jays quality control coach (2017), and Minnesota Twins bench coach (2018-19). Shelton was praised for his energy, humility, curiosity, and sense of humor. He flashed much of that humor at his introductory press conference. He discussed being introduced to a Primanti Brothers<\/a> sandwich by Musgrove. \u201cI don\u2019t think I\u2019m going to eat for a week,\u201d he joked.<\/p>\n

His first season was memorable. The coronavirus pandemic canceled the start of the 2020 season. Finally, Major League Baseball hastily put together a 60-day season commencing on July 24. With no fans in the stands and a ragtag roster, Shelton\u2019s Bucs finished 19-41. If nothing else, Shelton became the answer to a trivia question. He was the first manager ejected from a game for having a \u201csocially distanced argument\u201d with an umpire.<\/p>\n

May 27, 2021, Cubs 5, Pirates 3: The Rundown<\/h3>\n

The 2021 Pirates finished in last place at 61-101 while making headlines for all the wrong reasons. Nothing was dumber that season \u2013 or ever \u2013 than Pirates first baseman Will Craig getting suckered by Chicago Cubs shortstop Javier B\u00e1ez into a rundown between home plate and first base at PNC Park. With two outs and two Cubs on base in the third inning, B\u00e1ez grounded to third baseman Gonz\u00e1lez. The throw pulled Craig off the bag. Craig could have ended the inning by stepping on the bag. Instead, B\u00e1ez retreated to home plate, and Craig gave chase.<\/p>\n

By the time the Pirates got done throwing the ball around the infield like the Bad News Bears, two runs had scored. Shelton told Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette<\/em>, \u201cThe bag hasn\u2019t moved in 140 years. . . Our guys have got to know the rules. That\u2019s my fault.\u201d (No, it wasn\u2019t.) Five days later, Craig played his last major league game.
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