MLB
The Other Side: No Hard Feelings Between Derek Shelton, Rays’ Kevin Cash
EDITOR’S NOTE: This is part of a recurring series that spotlights Pittsburgh Pirates-oriented news and notes from their opponents.
Derek Shelton and Kevin Cash hold no animosity toward each other.
The two managers spent time catching up last weekend when Cash’s Tampa Bay Rays visited Shelton’s Pittsburgh Pirates at PNC Park.
Shelton was the Rays’ hitting coach for eight seasons from 2009-16. The first six were under Joe Maddon, who left to become the Chicago Cubs’ manager. Cash inherited Shelton but decided to change hitting coaches late in their second season together.
However, the firing didn’t prevent Shelton from becoming a big-league manager. He spent 2017 as the Toronto Blue Jays’ quality control coach then served as the Minnesota Twins’ bench coach for two seasons before being hired by the Pirates.
Cash was happy to see Shelton ascend to a manager’s job and has kept tabs on the Pirates during his former assistant’s five-year tenure in Pittsburgh.
“When we worked together, I wasn’t probably even prepared to know what a good manager was,” Cash said. “I knew that he was really smart and really passionate about the game, and he interacted with players very well as the hitting coach. A lot of those things go in part to help you become a good manager.”
The Rays have been to the postseason each of the last four seasons and have become the model that other small-market franchises try to emulate. Cash believes the Pirates are on the right path despite not having made a postseason appearance since 2015.
“They have a good young core group mixed in with some talented veterans like (Andrew) McCutchen and (Bryan) Reynolds,” Cash said. “They have an outstanding couple of rookie starting pitchers (Paul Skenes and Jared Jones) and some young, athletic position players, They’re an interesting team.”
Nick Lodolo ‘Thankful’ to Pirates
Cincinnati Reds left-hander Nick Lodolo has been tough on the Pirates in three career starts. He has a 2-1 record with a 2.95 ERA.
Lodolo was particularly impressive on June 18 when he beat the Pirates at PNC Park, holding them to one run and four hits while striking out eight and walking none.
The Pirates selected Lodolo in the supplemental first round of the 2016 amateur draft with the 41st overall pick following his senior season at Damien High School in La Verne, Calif. However, the sides didn’t agree to terms on a contract and Lodolo went on to star in college at TCU.
The Reds made him their first-round pick in 2019, going seventh overall.
Lodolo, though, doesn’t hold a grudge against the Pirates.
“Back in high school when they took me, I don’t think I was ready for professional baseball and it was just the best decision for me at the time not to sign,” Lodolo said. “Obviously, it worked out for me. I’m also thankful the Pirates believed in me to draft me that high. It meant a lot to me, and it still does. At the same time, there’s no extra motivation at all when I face them. It was just of matter of timing for not signing.”
Justin Wilson Keeps Going
In the same series in which Lodolo was masterful, veteran left-handed Justin Wilson made two relief appearances for the Reds and pitched 2.2 scoreless innings.
The Pirates drafted Wilson in the fifth round in 2008 from Fresno State and he made his major-league debut four years later. The 36-year-old Wilson is in his 12th big-league season and with his sixth team.
“I still love playing and competing,” Wilson said.
Wilson is one of just five active MLB players left from the 2013 Pirates team that broke the franchise’s streak of 20 consecutive losing seasons, the longest stretch of futility in major North American professional sports history.
The others are McCutchen, New York Yankees right-hander Gerrit Cole, Atlanta Braves righty Charlie Morton and New York Mets right fielder Starling Marte.
