Derek Shelton has one clear goal to protect Pirates pitchers amid coronavirus shutdown

No one in the baseball world is happy right now.

No season to start. No games to be played.

Everyone is just sitting around idle.

Although sitting around idle is still better than having your entire offseason of work go up in smoke. Then having to do it over and over again with a target that continues to move.

That’s a reality all the baseball analytics gurus and training staffs are dealing with, especially on the pitching front.

An entire offseason of data, readying arms for a late March start date. Ramping up through spring training. Painstakingly identifying offseason stretching programs, throwing routines and exercise regimens.

Week to week. Day to day.

Let’s get Joe Musgrove to 200 innings and push Chris Archer back up to the 30-start range. Are 70 appearances for Kyle Crick too much to ask?

Every pitcher had some number like that in mind as a goal. And every moment from when they left PNC Park last fall until when they planned to leave Bradenton a few weeks ago was designed with an eye toward hitting those goals.

Then covid-19 slammed the brakes on everything.

Now no one knows what numbers to set because no one knows how many games there will be in the season or how many games per week MLB will stage. There’s even a question over the number of innings per game.

Seven for doubleheaders? Nine for regular games? How many doubleheaders per week?

Go ahead, Sparky. Feed that unfinished puzzle into your spreadsheets and see what they spit out. My bet is you just get a picture of a question mark.

“There’s a difference between speculation and being prepared,” Pirates manager Derek Shelton told me Tuesday. “Speculation is when we are going to start, how we are going to do it. In terms of health, we are monitoring that on a daily basis.

“So in terms of preparedness, we are definitely staying on top of that.”

Shelton, speaking from his home in Florida, says that he has found that most of his Pirates pitchers have been throwing off a mound once or twice a week. The specifics depended on how far along each individual pitcher was in terms of workload when the stoppage hit.

Shelton has had pitchers tell him that they have been throwing off mounds, in parking lots, in backyards without a catcher, or to old high school friends serving as catchers.

The actual throwing of the baseball for his pitchers seems to be the least of Shelton’s concerns.

“Most of them have the space available,” Shelton relayed. “The ability to long toss. The ability (to throw) from 60 feet, six inches. I think where our challenge comes into play is with workout facilities. Guys making sure they get their work in. Arm care. And getting their core exercises in.”

Shelton made the same comparison for hitters as well, insinuating he isn’t concerned about timing for his batters if games resume this year. He’s more worried about the risk of core muscle injuries if players aren’t able to train the proper way.

But regarding pre-existing goals of innings on the mound, appearances or pitches — even condensed adjustments based on potential schedule lengths — it sounds like those are out the window.

That even includes whether or not starters are still going to be pushed to hit five or six innings, regardless of if the games last seven innings (as doubleheaders) or nine.

“How we monitor volume, the day to day of what our pitchers do, that will happen organically within the games,” Shelton said.

Those decisions could be helped dramatically if Major League Baseball expands the rosters, tables the “three batter” rule for a year and allows for potentially increased flexibility between the minor and major leagues.

Oh, by the way, Shelton admits he has no idea how minor league baseball is going to operate. Based on the crazy scenarios being bandied about — the “Arizona Bubble” idea and the “Grapefruit-Cactus” plan — who knows where the minor league kids will play.

Maybe Fargo or Saskatchewan with the NHL players?

For all the uncertainty that existed in our conversation about planning for the pitchers, Shelton was stern on one angle. And it had little to do with a potential truncated campaign in 2020.

“If we play a condensed schedule, we have to be aware of what’s happening in 2021,” Shelton insisted. “We can’t have a 2019 (with) heavy volume, 2020 (with) minimal volume, and (in) 2021 we crank volume back up. That’s how injuries happen.”

It’s a good point. And an interesting one for the Pirates as opposed to a team such as the New York Yankees with World Series aspirations.

If the season is only 100 games, the Yankees are going to try to win all 100. So if that means cramming in 20-22 starts for Gerrit Cole in pinstripes, so be it.

But for a team in development like the Pirates, forget shutting down an important prospect pitcher for potentially meaningless games in late September or early October. Shelton’s explanation means someone like Mitch Keller could be on the mound twice the last week of the season, working deep into games even if the Pirates have been eliminated for a long time because his inning count needs to get up for 2021.

Despite the desire to accumulate innings for starters, Shelton suggested you’ll probably still see relievers leaned on early in the season because they’ll be more prepared to go their usual one inning of work than a starter may be to grind through five or six.

It’s a tightrope for a manager to walk. Especially a first-year manager such as Shelton.

In the most bizarre first year imaginable.

You can listen to the whole interview with Pirates manager Derek Shelton here.