BRADENTON, Fla. -- The Pirates' pitchers and catchers had their first workout Wednesday morning, and shortly after, Derek Shelton made his first roster announcement: Keone Kela is the closer.
Shelton has been quiet about which players will be in which role thus far, wanting to see his players in person first rather than just relying on video.
Kela, however, was the exception.
"To answer that question, candidly, Kela's going to be the guy at the end of the game," Shelton told reporters after the workout.
Shelton and Kela had not talked about him being the closer before PiratesFest in January, which is why he said at the time only that Kela would pitch at the back end of ballgames.
"[Kela being the closer] was my expectation all along, but I wanted to sit down and talk to him about it," Shelton said. "I think he's put himself in a position where he deserves to do that."
Kela pitched to a 2.12 ERA and 1.01 WHIP in 2019. He saved 24 games with the Rangers in 2018 before being traded to the Pirates during the July trade deadline.
"It feels really good," Kela said at his locker about going back to the closer's role.
In a conversation Tuesday, Kela told me he was not chasing a label, but instead wanted to win and help build a winning culture.
He reiterated that Wednesday.
"If it's the ninth inning, great. If it's 3-4-5 in the eighth, and that's what I've got to do to close that inning, [I'll do it]," Kela said. "My ego's not stroked with an S next to me. I want to get a dub."
• After running the Twins' spring training the last two seasons, this was Shelton's first spring day as a manager.
"I think it's a little bit emotional," Shelton said. "You spend a lot of time throughout your career, and you wait for a day like this, in an organization like this. So it was a really special day."
• While Gregory Polanco has not reported to camp yet, director of sports medicine Todd Tomczyk anticipates him being healthy.
"The biggest challenge at the end of the season with Gregory was hitting," Tomczyk told reporters Wednesday. "That issue has seemed to be resolved and rectified at this point."
Polanco's workload will be monitored and adjusted as necessary.
• Not much else to report from Tomczyk. Geoff Hartlieb, Erik Gonzalez, and Jason Martin are all back at full strength after undergoing offseason surgery.
• Most of the Pirates' moves this offseason have been focused on defense. New acquisition Jarrod Dyson is one of the best defensive center fielders in baseball, and Jacob Stallings is going to get the bulk of the playing time behind the plate.
Kela, for one, appreciates it.
"We've got some deer out there that can go and get it," Kela said of the Pirates' outfield. "I'm not going to feel any sorrow having a ball going up in the air.
"Unless it's over the fence," he added with a chuckle.
• One of those deer, Bryan Reynolds, reported to camp early Wednesday.
Reynolds was seemingly in the mix for the center field job, but he told Dejan Kovacevic Wednesday that he was told months ago he was staying in left field.
Even though he's a natural center fielder, Reynolds is fine with sticking with left and is excited to see what Dyson can bring.
"He's a great defender," Reynolds was telling me. "It'll be nice to play alongside him."
• Again, position players don't have to report until Feb. 16. In Dyson's case, that means he can still have a full spring.
• By my count, I believe Ke'Bryan Hayes signed the most autographs Wednesday, drawing a crowd of a couple dozen after his session in the batting cage.
"One thing my dad always said is, 'Sign as much as you can because one day, nobody's gonna want it,' " Hayes told me with a smile. "They're out supporting us, so why not sign? That's the way I look at it."
