FORT MYERS, Fla. -- A security guard at Hammond Stadium, southern home of Minnesota's Twins, passed by the spot where I'd been standing, along a wall just outside the visiting clubhouse, paused a moment, then turned my way.
"Are you with the Pirates?"
"I'm not," I replied, of course. "I'm a reporter."
"Oh, good," he came right back. "You seen Shelty? He still around?"
Shelty.
I've been blessed to get to know Derek Shelton over these past couple years and change. And for all the time I've spent around him, inside and outside the sports sphere, I've yet to hear anyone outside his immediate family -- wife Alison and children Jackson, Bella and Gianna -- call the man anything but Shelty.
And here, in this setting, where the Pirates lost a Grapefruit League exhibition to the Twins, 9-4, Wednesday afternoon, that sure wasn't going to be an exception. He'd been part of Minnesota's coaching staff only a couple years, but it was plenty enough to have people all about this place stopping him to exchange handshakes and hugs.
But Pittsburgh and Shelty?
Yeah. That's very much on hold. And understandably so.
For one, the pandemic's kept all of us apart. Nothing more than scant human contact, much less handshakes and hugs.
For another, his team's been terrible. A cumulative 80-142, accounting for the shortened 2020 season and the 101-loss calamity last summer. And no one's going to be eager to get to know the manager who's losing two-thirds of his games, least of all in a city like ours.
For yet another, a vocal and definitive majority of our baseball-following citizens are in a near-constant and largely justified rage over Bob Nutting, payroll, Bryan Reynolds' arbitration, Oneil Cruz's demotion and all that other stuff ... that Shelton's pretty much a subtext within the predominant narrative.
Nothing I write would change that, obviously, so I won't try. But I still felt compelled on this day to put forth a bit of an extra effort in asking questions of Shelton that might at least share a little of what I've learned, and he was kind enough to accommodate ... but only after a hug for the security guard.
Our full conversation, verbatim:
DK: This is your third year now on this job, and you're the field manager. You're the face the fans see most often when watching games at PNC Park or on TV. In a way, you're a figurehead.
What can you tell those fans who wonder about the commitment to winning, about the work that's being done to make that happen?
Because you know as well as I do that there are doubts.
Shelton: Yeah, I just think the commitment's been there since Day 1. From all of us.
I mean, look, when I took the job, I knew it was gonna be a challenge. I knew we had an uphill battle. But the one thing that I really appreciate about our coaching staff, in particular, is that every day they bring it. And you know, it's challenging at times. It is. We've had two difficult years. But I think at no point ever have we not been fully invested in this. And I'd like to think that shows in how we play. One thing I've learned about the people in Pittsburgh is that they expect our guys to play hard. And they do play hard every night.
On top of that, the things that we've done at the management level, the people we've acquired ... we're trending in the right direction, you know? At times, it may not be as fast as everybody wants it. And I appreciate that. And I understand that because, ultimately, I'm the one who's responsible for getting that done. But I really do think we're moving in the right direction."
DK: I've seen your competitiveness. I've seen the work you've put in. But there are also times where ... where ... you know, I keep waiting for you to crack at least a little. Some really, really lousy loss. That Sunday game at PNC last summer where you had a chance to get your first sweep but the Mets came back late ... that one, I thought I almost saw it coming, and it didn't.
Are you holding back in those situations?
Have you had a point over these past couple years where you just say ... ?
Shelton: Yeah, I think like, if ... if I show that outward crack or I go and get pissed off? I mean, that really does our group no good. It just doesn't.
Do I get frustrated at times? Am I competitive? Is it hard? Yeah. I mean, it's definitely that. But I think the big thing for me is to make sure that we stay the course. Because if, at any point, you know, our group sees me go off course, then it's going to be very easy for them to be off course. So the commitment’s there every day. Frustration at times, yeah, 100%. But I think the long term of where we're going and what we're doing and how we're doing it, it's gonna be really beneficial. When we get there.
DK: The Mets series. Come on. I was there. You wanted to blow a gasket.
Shelton: Yeah, I mean, you know, I think at times, it gets to a heightened level of frustration. But again, there's no sense for me to show that, at least not outwardly. Now, what happens in our clubhouse at times ... I can't say I haven't gotten frustrated or haven't maybe gotten into some people. But what happens in our clubhouse stays in our club and, in fact, I give credit to our guys, the times that I have gotten after them, they've always walked out the next day with their head high.
I don't do it too often. It's just like yelling at your kids. If you yell at your kids all the time, then they quit listening to the times that you need to get after ‘em a little bit. I think they pay attention to it because they know 99% of the time, we stay the course.
DK: You know what you've got not only in Pittsburgh but also, especially when we're down here, what's on the way. You know Cruz is coming. You know Roansy Contreras is coming. You know Nick Gonzales and others are coming here. Is there any part of you, even just going for a walk or whatever, that allows you to visualize what this'll be like at PNC Park once this direction's achieved?
Shelton: Oh, yeah, I think about it. I'll think about it probably more often than not on this drive I'm about to make back to Bradenton.
Yeah, this spring training especially, Donnie Kelly and I have talked about it a lot. It's like, you start to see the fruits of the trades we've made -- not at the big-league level yet -- but how these guys develop at the minor-league level. You see the last couple of drafts we've had since Steve Sanders has taken over, and what he and Joe Dellicarri have done. It's a shortened spring training, but we're able to see guys making adjustments, making strides, getting closer to the big-league level.
There are going to be struggles. None of these guys are going to come to the big leagues and, all of a sudden, turn into superstars. We don't expect that. There's going to be ups and downs. But I think you can sit back and smile and realize we've done some really good work here. And I think our fans are really in for a treat with these guys that are coming.
DK: Like Diego Castillo? Two home runs. Big play in the field. Catches everything.
Shelton: Catches everything.
DK: That's a 'you' kind of player right there.
Shelton: Know where I learned that from? Jim Leyland. He always found room for those guys.
DK: Rafael Belliard.
Shelton: Don Kelly.
DK: Leyland also used to flip food tables when he was mad.
Shelton: Drive safely, DK.
(Concluded by a handshake. No hug.)
MINNESOTA TWINS
Gary Sanchez is congratulated in the Twins' dugout after a two-run double that tied the score in the fourth inning.
• Castillo, the 24-year-old versatile infielder who arrived last July alongside Hoy Park in the Clay Holmes trade with the Yankees, lasered a solo home run in the fourth inning, then really ripped into a two-run blast in the sixth. Both were to left, where the wind was blowing out, but both also were rocked:
"That wasn't the wind," Castillo playfully assured me.
Neither was his other home run this spring, this past Sunday off Gerrit Cole.
And then there was this in the Minnesota fourth:
The defense is expected, but the power couldn't be. In his first five years in the minors, mostly in the New York system, he had eight home runs and a .659 OPS. But in a full Class AA season in 2021, split between Trenton and Altoona, he had 18 home runs and an .843 OPS.
A little old for that level?
Yeah, definitely.
Ready for the top level?
I asked him that as part of a terrific two-minute talk that I've got right here in its entirety, including his nervously trying to fix his hair at the outset:
• Surprises are good. And with a roster like this, they're a must. Embrace them.
• Bryse Wilson started and was outstanding through three innings, conceding a hit and striking out four, but a walk and back-to-back doubles chased him in the fourth, and he'd eventually be charged with three runs.
That said, it's the best stuff I've seen from him since he arrived in a separate trade -- Richard Rodriguez to the Braves -- and I'd verify that afterward with a pitching coach who expressed extra appreciation for the biting movement on Wilson's slider against righties.
Oh, and Wilson didn't concur when I brought up only those first three innings as highlights:
Hey, it's Grapefruit ball. Whatever.
But the stuff was there. And the stuff's been my prime worry with this pitcher.
• The Twins wound up pummeling Dillon Peters in the fifth -- six runs on five hits, including a solo monster home run from Miguel Sano and a grand slam from Byron Buxton -- and that really shouldn't affect anything. If Peters makes this rotation, call off the season. He has nothing other than the ability to pitch with his left arm.
• For those unfamiliar with spring nuances, never take the outcome seriously. Like, ever.
And that goes double if the visiting team loses on a faraway trip, which veterans are seldom asked to make. The Red Sox, who also play here in Fort Myers, brought a skeleton roster along for the two-hour drive to Bradenton the previous day, and the Pirates whacked them. Meant nothing. The Pirates brought a skeleton roster down here, and the reverse happened. Meant nothing.
• Bligh Madris homered, too, and he's 3 for 9 this spring. But don't take that to mean that he, at age 26 with only one partial season as high as Class AAA, or any younger outfielders are ready to push for roster spots. It remains the glaring organizational shortcoming.
And I'll reiterate this is, without a doubt, at least one real reason Cruz was sent down. He's needed out there.
• The Cole Tucker thing remains a thing: He lashed a double to the fence in right-center to lead off the game and later walked. He's reached base safely in six of his eight games now.
If he isn't the second baseman, who is? Park? Michael Chavis?
No and no.
The lineup April 7 in St. Louis will have Tucker at second, Kevin Newman at short.
• That's a week away. Seems ... sudden, doesn't it?
But I'll say this: The next person down here who complains about this spring training being abbreviated will be the first. Six weeks was always absurdly long. This can and should get done in a month.
• Thanks for reading my baseball coverage today.
DEJAN KOVACEVIC / DKPS
Hammond Stadium, Fort Myers, Fla., Wednesday afternoon.
THE ESSENTIALS
• Boxscore
• Live file
• Schedule
THE INJURIES
• Ke’Bryan Hayes, third baseman, sustained a minor right ankle sprain during practice over the weekend. He's 'day-to-day,' per Shelton.
• Michael Chavis, infielder, returned after missing five days to right shoulder tightness.
THE ROSTER
No moves today. Still 40 players in camp: 22 pitchers, four catchers, eight infielders, six outfielders
THE LINEUPS
Shelton's card:
1. Cole Tucker, LF
2. Hoy Park, 3B
3. Michael Chavis, 2B
4. Daniel Vogelbach, 1B
5. Diego Castillo, SS
6. Michael Perez, C
7. Bligh Madris, CF
8. Hunter Owen, RF
9. Travis Swaggerty, DH
And for Rocco Baldelli's Twins:
1. Byron Buxton, CF
2. Jorge Polanco, 2B
3. Carlos Correa, DH
4. Luis Arraez, 3B
5. Miguel Sano, 1B
6. Max Kepler, RF
7. Gary Sanchez, C
8. Kyle Garlick, LF
9. Jermaine Palacios, SS
THE SCHEDULE
Back home in Bradenton to take on the next-door-neighbor Orioles, 1:05 p.m., at LECOM Park. Zach Thompson vs. Keegan Akin. I'll be there.
THE CONTENT
Visit our team page for everything.
