Q&A with Pirates manager Derek Shelton: 'I trust that we're going to win in Pittsburgh'

On the opening day of his third spring training as Pittsburgh Pirates manager, Derek Shelton discussed how nothing about his two-year tenure has been normal — and why it’s made him a better leader.

Serving as the steady hand steering a sinking ship, Shelton has endured a roster reconstruction as general manager Ben Cherington has traded almost every available asset to restock the farm system.

Shelton’s first season came amid the outbreak of the covid-19 pandemic, which shut down the sport for almost four months and caused a shortened season. The Pirates finished 19-41, baseball’s worst record.

Things only got worse before the start of his second season. The Pirates traded All-Star first baseman Josh Bell and starting pitchers Joe Musgrove and Jameson Taillon over the winter, then lost rookie of the year candidate Ke’Bryan Hayes to the injured list for two months with a left hand/wrist issue that lingered all season.

After the Pirates traded All-Star second baseman Adam Frazier, relievers Austin Davis and Clay Holmes and closer Richard Rodriguez, they lost 15 of 17 games to start August. The Pirates won 13 of their final 30 games to finish 61-101, their first 100-loss season since 2010.

“I’m really looking forward to the point where we start the season and get to the point where there’s more normalcy,” Shelton told the Tribune-Review. “I don’t even know what normalcy is anymore, but I think getting back into the flow of how baseball has been over the past 140 years before the past two — and it’s not just me but everybody in the game is looking forward to baseball getting back to where it was.”

Shelton did a Q&A with the Trib’s Pirates beat writer Kevin Gorman during spring training:

After two-plus years of dealing with roster turnover and losing, how much do you feel like you’re taking steps closer to winning?

“I definitely feel like we’re taking steps closer. I really feel the thing that benefits us the most is our dedication to the process. We’ve stuck to our process. Ben came in with a very clear, outlined plan and we have not wavered from it. The one thing that I appreciate is throughout all of it, we have communicated and I’ve been aware of when we traded the guys, why we traded the guys, what our thought was and why we acquired guys. When you do it and you do it in a partnership, it makes it easier to have difficult conversations, and we’ve done that from the get go. The second part of it is, it’s a credit to our staff. We have changed the culture here. There is a lot of trust with our players. When you talk to guys, they feel that. When that happens, things are able to trend in the right direction.”

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The Pirates keep promising that the future is bright. Why?

“Our group is really excited. To be able to spend time around the younger group of players, and the players that have been here have done a really nice job because the one thing we’ve asked is to let people be themselves. Our veteran group — and some of the veterans have only played in the big leagues two years — — they realize what we’re doing because we clearly outlined how important this group of prospects is to us. They did a really nice job in a short spring training of kind of letting them blend into what we’re doing with our culture.”

Do you feel like the payoff of the process is evident in the talent in your minor league system?

“If you’re a Pirates fan and you watched us on TV or have seen us play in person, you should be excited about what’s coming because there’s a good group of young players coming. Now, for them to come there has to be some difficult times because we had to trade some good players to acquire some of these players. So the frustration of losing I 100% get and appreciate because I’m the closest one to it, but I know what we have planned ahead, I know the players we have coming and I know what the process is so that’s the thing that makes me smile.”

How difficult was it for top prospect Oneil Cruz to win the starting job at shortstop when you had a Gold Glove finalist returning?

“Kevin Newman’s done a good job, and he’s done a good job all spring. He continues to play shortstop and will. We’ve seen Kevin play second base. We’ve seen Oneil move into the outfield. I think for everyone on our club, it’s really important to be versatile. We only have a couple guys that only play one position, and we’re going to continue to do that with our group.”

Young veterans like Bryan Reynolds and Ke’Bryan Hayes are being asked to be leaders and top performers. How do you get them to do that without asking them to carry the team?

“Our expectations is for them to be them, to control the things that they can control and nothing beyond that. In no way are we going to ask any of those guys to do things they’re not comfortable with but we expect them to individually perform the way they should.”

Reynolds is an All-Star and, along with Hayes and Newman, you have three Gold Glove candidates. Is it time for them to take the next step for the Pirates to become a winning team?

“Our goal with all of our guys — and you specified those three guys in particular — is to just continue to get better and continue to find areas for growth. Some of those accolades and awards, they’re uncontrollable. You can do really good things and not get recognized, so we don’t focus on that. What we focus on is just making sure that the things the group needs to get better at they continue to get better at.”

The NL Central has undergone a lot of change. After three consecutive last-place finishes, is this team ready to make a move?

“It’s interesting. There’s been a lot of movement, some of it unexpected, some of it expected. It’s going to be probably, in the three years, the most interesting because there has been some turnover in some places. I’m just excited to get in the Central and start playing some games.”

The designated hitter is universal, but you came up coaching in the American League. Will you miss the National League strategy?

“I think it’s more what I’ve traditionally known. We played the covid year with the DH. I enjoyed managing in the National League last year. That was fun to do the double switches, to know where the pitcher is going to be at, but the consistency of the game I’m looking forward to.”

You’ve endured a lot of losing but continue to say the future is bright. What type of feedback do you get from Pirates fans?

“I agree with that. It’s great that they have passion for it. They want to win and I want to win. I understand at times their frustration. Most of the feedback I’ve gotten is that people are pretty happy because we’ve outlined our process. I think if you go into it and you’re unclear with the way you’re doing it or how you’re doing it but in no way has Ben ever done that. He’s been extremely clear on what our thought process was, how we’re going to do it, why we’re going to do it. I understand there’s frustration at times with losses. I’m the first guy to get frustrated, so I appreciate that. But because we outlined our plan clearly, Pittsburghers are excited for what’s coming.”

Despite the 101 losses, we saw a team that played hard all season, especially in September. How hard has it been to endure losing?

“The clarity was the most important thing. At no point in my two-plus years here has there ever been something that wasn’t explained to me clearly or I didn’t understand why we were doing it. The other thing that Ben and our baseball ops group does a good job of is if we have questions about it, we ask. We get explanations. From how it was outlined from the day I got hired to where we’re at right now, we have stuck to our process. We’ve acquired really good players. We’ve traded some good players. How we’re doing it is important. At no point have I ever been unclear so the frustration in that has never come into play.”

Yet the losing has to wear on you, right?

“Losing wears on you every day. As long as we continue to get better, continue to play hard and trust our process, I trust that we’re going to win in Pittsburgh.”