Pirates' Derek Shelton has 'very challenging decision' with starting shortstop

The Pittsburgh Pirates promised a competition for the starting job at shortstop and, after narrowing a three-way battle down to two players, Derek Shelton is days away from making a decision.

Whether he selects Kevin Newman or Erik Gonzalez to be the starter, the Pirates manager has found both players arrived at spring training prepared to perform better than they finished last season.

“We said we were gonna have a competition, and I said competition brings out the best in people, and we are definitely seeing that,” Shelton said. “I would rather be on that side of the coin than the other side of the coin, where we were choosing (from among) two guys who were struggling. They both have done a really nice job, so it’s gonna make for a very challenging decision.”

Both shortstops started strong, only to struggle in September. Gonzalez batted .282 with seven doubles, a triple, three homers and 15 RBIs in August but batted .184 in the final month of the 2020 season. Newman batted .307 with three doubles, a homer and seven RBIs in August, only to hit .180 in September.

If Gonzalez had a decided edge, it’s that he supplanted Newman as the starter last season and played more games at shortstop (38) than Newman (22), who played 20 at second base. Gonzalez also has the better glove, though his ability to play second, third and even left field could work against him because he is better suited for a super-utility role than Newman.

When it comes to the plate this spring, it’s no contest. For as well as Gonzalez has hit — he is batting .353 (12 for 34) with a double, a home run and six RBIs in 13 Grapefruit League games — he has been overshadowed by Newman’s consistency. In nine games, Newman is hitting .727 (16 for 22) with a 1.659 OPS, with four doubles while drawing five walks with no strikeouts.

Gonzalez swears he isn’t bothered by Newman’s hot bat, even if it’s a small sample size that’s coming at his own expense. Gonzalez said that comes from his team-first approach, focusing on his own play instead of worrying about others.

“I’m not caught up in my numbers, his numbers being a little bit (better), this and that,” Gonzalez said Thursday. “I wasn’t even paying attention to that. At the end of the day, I want all my teammates to do well, and I’m here to compete, I’m here to do my best, I’m here to work hard every day — and not only work hard, but to celebrate and be a good teammate to my teammates. And that’s my mindset. Newman’s doing great, I feel like I’m doing great, and at the end of the day, whatever helps the team, that’s what matters.”

Nine days earlier, Newman sang a similar tune. That was before Cole Tucker was optioned out of major league camp, turning the three-way competition into a two-man race. Newman and Tucker, both former first-round picks by the Pirates, are old friends from when Newman hosted Tucker on his visit to Arizona.

“We’re all friends. We’re all rooting for each other. We’re all on the same team,” Newman said. “At the end of the day, we’re going out there competing and we’ll see what happens.”

Regardless of who wins, Shelton said he plans to be “extremely thoughtful” about giving his bench players reps to keep them sharp for the sake of the 162-game season after playing only 60 games last year. The Pirates could rotate shortstops early, with two days off built into the first nine days of the season followed by nine consecutive games.

Nevertheless, Gonzalez stressed the importance of playing every day, especially at the same position. Both he and Newman have shown their versatility by playing on either side of second base yet would prefer to concentrate on one position instead of a platoon.

“I think that’s important, and I think the validation for both of them, both of those two guys specifically, is they came in and played really well, regardless of who it is,” Shelton said. “There’ll be conversations with both guys, and I couldn’t be more proud of how they’ve come in, done their work both offensively and defensively. Both guys have run the bases, as well. So the private conversation, in terms of what they’ve done and how they do it will probably be the most important thing.”