Pirates' Derek Shelton finds variety of ways to keep busy

If you think the spring training shutdown might have Derek Shelton wondering what to do while he remains in Florida with his family, think again. The Pittsburgh Pirates manager has found time to perform a variety of important tasks.

He cleaned out some closets and caught up on his reading. He is into two books, and their subjects can’t be more dissimilar. One is on The Beastie Boys, the other on Roberto Clemente.

He also has tried to help 10-year-old daughter Gianna with her math homework, but that didn’t work out so well.

“I found out from both Gianna and from (wife) Allie, I am not fit to teach any fourth-grade subject because of my lack of patience,” he said.

No matter. There are baseball issues to discuss while waiting for the games to begin.

Before meeting with reporters on a conference call Thursday, he held one with his coaches.

“Just as a recap of spring training to this point and to make sure we stay on top of things moving forward and make sure that we stay in communication,” he said. “When you’re with a group of guys for 30-plus days, and then you stopped being around them and having daily conversations, I wanted to make sure we stayed extremely conversant.”

Meanwhile, there are some players still working out in Bradenton, Fla.

“No formal workouts going on,” he said “Monday, Wednesday and Friday, on staggered schedules.

“We’re limiting the amount of people who have exposure to each other. That includes players and staff.

“It’s more weight training, strength and conditioning stuff. Guys are able to throw. There are some guys hitting in the cage. Nothing extremely advanced. It’s more guys staying in shape.”

One of the keys to navigating the shutdown is making sure pitchers and players on rehab — most importantly right fielder Gregory Polanco — will be ready for the start of the season. But with the date at least two months in future, the prep is not easy.

“As we get closer to a date, guys will ramp up,” Shelton said. “Most guys are just doing general baseball stuff to stay in shape.”

At the time of the shutdown, Shelton said there were pitchers who were throwing more than 75 pitches per outing, with the goal of getting to 100 by Opening Day.

“There is a ‘de-load’ process. That’s something that (pitching coach) Oscar Marin and (bullpen coach Justin Meccage) have been handling with pitchers,” he said.

“We have to make sure we don’t go from 75 to nothing, and we also have to make sure we don’t waste a ton of bullets trying to stay fresh. More than likely, it’s a gradual de-load, just to make sure, for their arm care situation, it’s consistent.

“Once we do have a general timetable (for a return) and we make sure arms are maintaining that strength, we will build back up. In terms of what the volume of throwing is, that’s the thing that’s probably most challenging for all of us.”

Polanco’s progress after shoulder and knee injuries cut short his 2019 season probably deserves repeated scrutiny.

“We saw how engaged he was in spring training and how he ran the bases,” Shelton said. “It’s just making sure he maintains his health and maintains the strength in his knee, making sure his movement patterns stay consistent. So, when we do ramp back up, he doesn’t have rust.”

Shelton said he hasn’t thought too much about how the season will unfold when the game resumes.

“There are so many unknowns of what the game’s going to be like when we come back,” he said. “I have thought about a lot of different things, but until we actually have an outline of how things are going to transpire, I really don’t want to make any assessments or judgments.”

He also said he was not close to naming an Opening Day starter when spring training was shut down after 4½ weeks.

“We still had games and outings and decisions to be made,” he said.

He said potential roster moves are “on the back burner.”

“We are still talking about different things, but I don’t think we have anything that’s imminent or we’ve gotten to the point that we finalized.”

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