Pittsburgh Pirates manager Derek Shelton reacts in the dugout during the first inning of a baseball game against the Washington Nationals in Pittsburgh, Thursday, Sept. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)
PITTSBURGH — Pittsburgh Pirates general manager Ben Cherington expects manager Derek Shelton to return next season.
Cherington said Wednesday that Shelton remains “the right person to manage this team in 2025” despite an August swoon that dropped the Pirates out of postseason contention.
“I think there’s a lot to the job I believe he does really, really well and I also believe he works his tail off to continue to improve in a number of ways,” Cherington said.
Shelton entered Wednesday's game against Miami 287-404 (.415) in nearly five full seasons in Pittsburgh. The Pirates hoped to take another step forward in 2024 behind rookie pitcher Paul Skenes. While they were above .500 and in the middle of the wild-card race at the July 30 trade deadline, Pittsburgh has slumped down the stretch and is on pace to finish with around 76 wins, right where the franchise was a year ago.
“I do believe that there’s good evidence that we’re in a better position and we’re improved, and again, it’s not enough,” Cherington said. "We have to figure out a way to get more of that and ultimately push our win totals higher. I’m ultimately responsible for that and focused on it every day.”
Cherington hired Shelton in November 2019 to handle the major league roster as Cherington began a top-down overhaul of the organization. The steps back toward relevance have been difficult. The Pirates finished last in the NL Central in each of Shelton's first three seasons as Cherington traded away veterans like Joe Musgrove and Josh Bell while restocking the minor-league system.
The team upped its record to 76-86 a year ago and 2023 top overall pick Skenes' arrival in the majors in mid-May gave the franchise the kind of buzz it has lacked since reaching the playoffs three straight years a decade ago.
While Skenes has dazzled — he's 10-2 with a 2.10 ERA through 20 starts — the bullpen has been a mess and the lineup has struggled to produce regularly. The Pirates are near the bottom of the National League in every major offensive category, including runs (11th), home runs (13th) and on-base plus slugging percentage.
Though Cherington endorsed Shelton, he was less committed to the rest of the coaching staff. Hitting coach Andy Haines' job status is likely up in the air with runs continuing to be hard to come by.
“We will get to the end of the season and have an opportunity to look at the entire (coaching) group and decide, again consistent with the point about faster improvement and more improvement, if any adjustments are necessary to give ourselves a better chance to do that,” Cherington said.
The Pirates have already started making changes to the scouting department, though Cherington declined to call it an “overhaul.”
The major league roster remains a work in progress. The team moved 6-foot-7 shortstop Oneil Cruz to center field earlier this month after Cruz struggled defensively. Third baseman Ke'Bryan Hayes is dealing with back problems that limited his power. They currently have three catchers under control for next year — 2021 top overall pick Henry Davis, Endy Rodriguez and Joey Bart — and a glaring need at first base if they don't re-sign Rowdy Tellez, who has rebounded from a slow start.
Designated hitter Andrew McCutchen, who reached the 20-homer plateau for the 10th time in his career on Tuesday night, wants to come back next season and Cherington is optimistic that will happen.
“We would love to find a way for Andrew to finish his career in a Pirates uniform,” Cherington said.
Still, McCutchen is one very small piece of a complicated puzzle.
“(We) believe the team is better than it was last year and (it's still) not good enough,” Cherington said. "We need to make it better. There’s no one thing that’s going to do that. There are lots of things that are going to do that. We’re responsible for delivering and we’ll keep focused on that.”
