Pirates manager Derek Shelton believes tumult of his tenure has made him a better leader

BRADENTON, Fla. — As Derek Shelton starts his third season as Pittsburgh Pirates manager, he believes the adversity he has dealt with is making him a battle-tested leader who knows how to adapt and adjust.

Shelton’s first spring training was interrupted by the outbreak of a global pandemic that shut down the sport for almost four months and shortened the 2020 season to 60 games with no spectators allowed in stadiums. The Pirates finished with the worst record in baseball.

His second season, played under covid-19 protocols, saw the Pirates slip to 101 losses and another last-place finish in the NL Central. A 99-day lockout prevented him from talking to players in the offseason and delayed the start of a spring training that was squeezed to 18 games.

Worse yet, he contracted covid-19 over Christmas.

“I really don’t know what normalcy is anymore,” Shelton said Tuesday after the Pirates’ first full workout at LECOM Park. “I do think it’s personally made me better.”

The Pirates have three days of practice before they host the New York Yankees on Friday in the Grapefruit League opener, so Shelton’s primary concern is how to improve while staying healthy. He has spent the early days of camp checking in with players to see how they feel, conversations that come with the bond he’s built the past two years. That’s something for which Pirates general manager Ben Cherington gives Shelton credit.

“We believe that the more trust we have with players, the better chance we have to win,” Cherington said. “In every conversation, every interaction we have with a player, we’re going to try to build a little bit more trust through that, and we believe over time, that adds up to benefit. Benefit for the player, benefit for us. So, that’s a smaller thing that we can have a little bit more control over in Pittsburgh. I’m lucky that our manager and staff just do a great job of that every day.”

Shelton is particularly concerned about monitoring Pirates players who haven’t been training outside, especially those who are adjusting to wearing spikes again after working out indoors all winter. What excites Shelton is the amount of competition in camp. Aside from Bryan Reynolds in center field and Ke’Bryan Hayes at third base and likely Roberto Perez at catcher, the Pirates anticipate position battles in the middle infield, outfield corners, starting rotation and bullpen.

“If you’re talking about opportunities, the Pirates’ camp is going to be leading baseball in opportunities,” Shelton said, “because we have a lot of opportunities for guys to step up and see spots.”

Shelton sees positives in the tumult of his tenure, from spending time with the Pirates baseball operations staff in advance of the MLB Draft to traveling to their Dominican Republic academy with Cherington during the lockout. Shelton has spent time thinking about the trials and tribulations without feeling self-pity.

“Reflection? Yes. Woe is me, never — just because of the fact that it’s made me better as a leader and our staff tighter because of the fact that we’ve had to adapt and adjust to a lot of things,” Shelton said. “I think we’ve talked about a lot through the past two years about ducking and diving and dodging — whatever the five Ds of dodgeball are — but the one thing we’ve looked at is how we can get better, what forces us to get better.”