During Ben Cherington's introduction as the Pirates' new general manager earlier this month, he kept stressing that the Pirates were going to establish a "player-centered culture." If they do that, they are going to win and then, eventually, WIN.
This week, he made his first staffing decision, hiring Derek Shelton to be the 41st manager in the club's history. He too immediately started talking about the culture of the franchise.
“It is going to be an exciting change of culture in the clubhouse," Shelton said in the press release announcing his hiring. "It is going to be a fun environment in which we will all be held accountable to each other. It will be a player-centric culture built on strong communication and relationships with our players, our staff and the entire organization."
It is no question the Pirates are in dire need of a culture change. Not just because there were brawls between players and coaches — and teammates and coaches with players and coaches from other teams — but because of the egregious amount of talent they let slip through their fingers in recent years and how they had fallen behind the rest of the league; the prospects who never reached their potential in Pittsburgh, only to do so elsewhere; the major-league pitchers who found another gear once they left; how they were built on defense and pitch framing but had become steadily worse in the field for years, all the while preaching the importance of outs on three pitches or fewer. Each of these transgressions were potentially fireable offenses by themselves.
The previous regime was not on the same page. That is not entirely Clint Hurdle's fault, nor is it entirely Neal Huntington's, Ray Searage's or anyone else's. But there is no question it was a fractured baseball-operations department. Those fractures bred multiple extended losing streaks and turmoil. There was no quality control.
When Pirates owner Bob Nutting spoke with DKPittsburghSports.com on Oct. 28, he explained that he wanted to pause the managerial search until a general manager was in place since the relationship between the two is "critically important." If the Pirates are going to be a player-centered development machine, they are going to need someone who can connect with players and the front office at the major league level.
Enter Shelton.
Shelton's resume makes him more than qualified to be a big-league manager. He has 15 years of major-league coaching experience: 12 as a hitting coach and the last two as the bench coach for the Twins, who won 100 games in 2019. He has excelled in small markets like Cleveland and Tampa Bay. His analytical track record is very strong. It is no surprise he was such a popular managerial candidate these past two offseasons.
But between those 12 years as a hitting coach and two on the bench, he had a gap year job in 2017. It was with Toronto in a new position they created for him: Quality control coach.
So what does a quality control coach do? Well, a little of everything, actually. The Blue Jays had just let their assistant hitting coach go, so of course Shelton would help with the hitters, but he also worked with the pitchers and the defense. But perhaps most importantly, he would act as a liaison between the analytics department and the players.
The Blue Jays were the first American League team to hire a quality control coach (four National League teams had adopted one by this time). Shelton spent his 12 years as a hitting coach with the Indians and Rays, two of the most progressive teams in baseball, so he was a perfect fit for the job. He could build relationships, both with the players and the front office.
A front office that had Cherington as the vice president of baseball operations.
Analytics is a charged subject in the baseball world and it carries a stigma of being just soulless numbers. Shelton's job was to work on a one-on-one basis to use the new information to help the player, to take the edge off what could be a scary but wildly beneficial proposition.
By now, you might have seen Shelton's 2018 interview with David Laurila of FanGraphs. It's a great read where Shelton talks about his managerial philosophy. If you want to get a feel for what Shelton might be like as a skipper, I would strongly encourage reading it.
I want to pull two quotes from the interview, the first of which relates to Shelton's work as a quality control coach and the role analytics has in player development. Shelton said:
"I think it’s a misconception that teams use analytics and that’s the only way they do things. It’s not just how you use the information, it’s how you present it to the players. Some like more, and some like less, and you learn that by building relationships."
Shelton built relationships with the Blue Jays and then with the Twins. In a story documented by The New York Times, Twins manager Rocco Baldelli wanted to use a pinch-hitter late in a game last year because he knew he would have the advantage over the pitcher, but did not know if the replacement could play second base, the position he was pinch-hitting for. Shelton knew he could and vouched for him. The batter roped the game-winning hit and held his own in the field.
There was trust between Shelton and the player and Shelton and Baldelli. The Twins won that game for two reasons: The analytics that encouraged the decision to pinch-hit and the relationships and trust Shelton had built to have the confidence to do it.
“The trust has to be there,” Shelton said in an interview with Ben Nicholson-Smith in February, 2017, when describing the jobs of a quality control coach. “I don’t expect a guy to say, ‘This guy gives me information, I trust him.’ I have to develop that [trust]."
There's one more quote from the Laurila interview I want to look at to close out this Mound Visit. Towards the end of the article, Shelton talked about change:
"I think back to when I became a hitting coach in 2005, and what my thoughts were then, compared to what they were in 2016. There was a lot of growth. If you’re in a leadership role, you have to continue to learn, and that includes having a willingness to go outside your own box. If you don’t, you won’t be making yourself the best coach, or the best manager, that you’re capable of being."
For the Pirates to build that player-centric culture, they cannot afford to fall behind the rest of the league again. The game will change. They will need to keep up with it, if not be at the forefront.
This is an area where the previous regime failed. The Pirates constructed and used their team last year like it was still 2014. There is no reason why Chris Archer should have been throwing sinkers, but they made him, for no other reason than every Pirates starter has had to throw sinkers for the past seven years. Not only was it an outdated strategy, it did not fit the type of pitcher Archer is. When he is successful, it is because he is getting strikeouts. By throwing a sinker, they made him pitch to contact more.
Now take a look at Shelton last year. Through most of his years as a hitting coach, he preached plate discipline and patience. When the game evolved offensively, so did he. Last year, the Twins averaged seeing the fewest pitches per plate appearance in the American League. That aggressiveness was a huge reason for their home run explosion. He was willing to change with the game.
Conversely, last season, the Pirates hit 163 home runs on offense and preached to their pitchers the importance of getting outs on three pitches or fewer. Meanwhile, Twins batters hit 168 of their MLB record-setting 307 home runs in at-bats that were three pitches or less. Which team was ready for the unique challenges and opportunities the 2019 season would bring?
Nutting and team president Travis Williams have talked about rebuilding the relationship between the team and the fans. That is obviously the most important relationship that needs repaired, but it is not the only one. The manager is going to be the one cementing a lot of those relationships. Shelton has proved in the past that he can do that and be willing to evolve with the game.
Being able to communicate new ideas and have players willing to try because of mutual trust is how the Pirates can establish a player-centered culture.
MORE MOUND VISIT
Nov. 27: What is Starling Marte's trade value?
Nov. 22: Examining Cherington's first foray
Nov. 16: Cherington's analytical muddle
Nov. 12: Three undervalued starting pitchers
