Derek Shelton hopes shuffling lineup will bring Pirates bats alive, especially for Josh Bell

Pittsburgh Pirates manager Derek Shelton knows what fans are thinking, that his constant shuffling of the batting order hasn’t allowed his hitters to settle into a spot.

Shelton disagrees, finding the old-school approach a little bit too traditional.

“Honestly, I think people in general put too much in stock in batting order and worrying about where guys are hitting,” Shelton said. “You know, one of the things we have to do is we have to go out every day and figure out how to put the best lineup in place to attack that day’s starting pitcher, depending on who the starter is and how guys are swinging the bats. But, you know, I think it’s one of those old adages that people think that everybody should hit in the same spot, you know, all the time, and I really don’t believe it.”

Even so, dropping Josh Bell to sixth for the first game of Friday’s doubleheader against the Cincinnati Reds raised eyebrows. It would be alarming, if not for Bell’s struggles. After hitting 37 home runs with 116 RBIs in earning All-Star honors last season, Bell is batting .207 (25 for 121) with two doubles, four homers and 14 RBIs in 33 games.

But Bell hasn’t batted this low in the order since 2018, when he slashed .311/.391/.500 with nine doubles, four home runs and 16 RBIs in 36 games in the six-hole. He has spent most of this season batting third or fourth. After hitting primarily in the cleanup spot last season, Bell embraced the move to third in the lineup in late July, especially after snapping out of a slump by going 3 for 4 with a double and a two-run homer in a 5-2 loss to the Minnesota Twins on Aug. 5.

“I definitely like getting that first AB guaranteed in the first inning,” Bell said. “It’s always been a dream of mine to hit in the three hole in the big leagues, so it’s definitely an awesome experience. I would say this is my best day in the three hole. I know I’ve played (there) a few times in the past but this was definitely my coming-out party for the three spot and there’s a lot more to come, for sure.”

But Bell batted only .190 (15 for 79) in the three-hole. And Shelton hasn’t been shy about sliding scuffling hitters lower into the order and moving hot bats higher. Erik Gonzalez moved from seventh to leadoff. Bryan Reynolds dropped from second to fifth and back up to third. Adam Frazier went from third to first to sixth.

A hitting coach with the Tampa Bay Rays for six seasons under manager Joe Maddon, Shelton saw the shift from traditional thinking with the batting order. Shelton recalled that the Rays had a regular lineup in 2010, when it featured Carl Crawford, Ben Zobrist, Evan Longoria, Carlos Pena and B.J. Upton in the heart of the order.

“I think he was probably at the forefront of that,” Shelton said of Maddon. “I think as we started to mix and match guys in and out is when we started to see the shuffle. Now I think you’re seeing a bunch of different places. A couple years ago when people started identifying the No. 2-hole hitter as the supposedly best hitter on your team not the No. 3-hole hitter analytically, then it went to No. 4 and No. 5.

“Those conversations go back and forth as we gain more information. Managers look at it a couple different ways. Some guys really try to attack the starter with how they’re going to do it. Some guys are worried about how the back end of the bullpen is going to come into play. Then I think this year, it’s kinda thrown for a loop with the three-batter rule. You see trying to be more balanced in lineups.”

Shelton used the Chicago Cubs as an example, with Ian Happ (1.068 OPS) batting leadoff and Jason Heyward (.981 OPS) seventh.

“You don’t see that: The balance back and forth, attacking the starters, attacking bullpens, now even more of a challenge is the three-batter rule,” Shelton said. “It causes different conversations. I guarantee you that these lineup questions are extremely talked about among staffs and managers, not in the regard that you guys (in the media) do it, like, how we moved a guy up or down but how we’re going to get the best out of our guys every day.”