Pirates Baseball: New Manager Boosts Team's Confidence

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If you have already written off the Pittsburgh Pirates for the season, no one would blame you. However, new management may have changed the team around. After starting 12-26, manager Derek Shelton was released. His replacement, Don Kelly, has gone 17-18 in his tenure thus far. While .500 may not seem like a huge change, the players have noticed the difference.

Kelly’s tenure began on May 8th, with his first series being against the Atlanta Braves. The Braves have had a losing record this season and have experienced a handful of injuries. However, that would not guarantee the Pirates to win. The Pirates fought hard in this series, with each game ending within one run. Fortunately for the Bucs, they took 2 of 3 in Kelly’s first series.

In the final game of the series, the Pirates did a double steal. With Jared Triolo stealing third and Ke’Bryan Hayes stealing second. This play led to the winning run that was later scored. Based on this play, shortstop Isiah Kiner-Falefa pointed out a key difference between their leadership styles.

“I feel like that’s something he probably wouldn’t have done if Shelty were here. I feel like Donnie trusts [Triolo] and [Triolo] trusts Donnie. He’s not afraid to make a mistake, and I feel like that’s the big difference.” Kiner-Falefa stated.

Trust in the individual players to make a smart move is a key component in the Pirates’ team playing with confidence. The team is not afraid to make mistakes and has started playing towards their strengths. Rather than playing based on someone else’s plan, they are playing towards their own plan. This Laissez-Faire approach to player management has seemed to work thus far. Or at least, more than the previous micromanagement approach.

Under Shelton, the team experienced five straight losing seasons. They finished a highest of fourth in the NL Central. The Pirates were Shelton’s first stop as a manager. However, he had been coaching since 1997 with five different teams. Shelton played two years of Single-A baseball for the Yankees after they picked him up from Southern Illinois University. This has shown that he had little loyalty to the Pirates, other than as a job and his own pride.

On the other hand, Kelly has shown loyalty to the Pirates and the city of Pittsburgh. For starters, Kelly is from Pittsburgh and grew up a Pirates fan. Kelly played baseball for Mt. Lebanon and played for the Pirates in 2007. However, his playing career did not last long in the Burgh. He played for the Tigers and Marlins until 2016.

Kelly has earned the trust of his players for various reasons. One reason is that he has been in the locker room for a long time, since 2019. Rather than importing an outside guy, Kelly had already built relationships as the bench coach and has continued to show his care for the team and players.

Closer David Bednar, who has bounced back from struggling earlier this year, commented on the team’s recent performance and change in energy.

“I’ve known Donnie a long time and he’s just the same guy,” Bednar stated, “He’s just so positive and he always has our back. I’m happy for him to have this opportunity, and he’s doing a great job.”

When Don Kelly was announced as the new manager, it was stated that he was not an interim manager, rather the manager going forward until the end of 2025. And the players want to keep Donnie around and make sure it’s his full-time job for the future.

About Post Author

Zachary Worstell

A Marietta College Student with three years of journalism experience writing for Marietta's Marcolian Online Newspaper. He was promoted to Editor in Chief of the Marcolian in 2023. A Pittsburgh native, he covers sports from the Pittsburgh region as well as Ohio and West Virginia.

zach102803@gmail.com

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