Perrotto: Don Kelly Proving to Be the Right Choice

PITTSBURGH — It’s not yet time to proclaim that the Pittsburgh Pirates’ Pennant Express has left the station, far from it.

The Pirates have a 27-40 record. They are in last place in the National Central, 13.5 off the Chicago Cubs’ pace.

However, it is time to say that general manager Ben Cherington made the right move last month when he fired manager Derek Shelton and replaced him with bench coach Don Kelly. The Pirates have played a much better brand of baseball since Kelly made his managerial debut on May 9.

The Pirates raised their record to 15-14 in one month under Kelly’s guidance on Monday night when they rolled past the Miami Marlins 10-3 in the opener of a three-game series at PNC Park. Coming on the heels of a three-game weekend sweep of the Philadelphia Phillies over the weekend, the Pirates are on a season-best four-game winning streak.

While 15-14 hasn’t thrust the Pirates into contention, it’s better than their 12-26 start under Shelton.

Don’t expect Kelly to take any credit for the Pirates’ improved play, though.

“I hate talking about myself,” he said.

However, the Pirates have looked more organized and detail-oriented since Kelly took over. They have cut down on their mental mistakes, especially the near-daily baserunning blunders.

Simply put, the Pirates are playing like a big-league team.

“We’ve played good baseball,” Kelly said. “Early on, we talked about that too, there’s always going to be mistakes in baseball. How do we limit those in doing it, but play the game aggressively in a way to win the game, not to go out for fear of failure or making mistakes. And finding a way to play with that freedom and aggressiveness. I do believe that the guys have done a really good job of that.”

The sense I get from talking to Pirates players is that there is more accountability since Kelly took over. While it isn’t in his nature to publicly criticize his players, Kelly realizes that approach doesn’t work with today’s professional athlete – the 45-year-old will let guys know when he is unhappy.

Most of Kelly’s playing career was with the Detroit Tigers when Jim Leyland was their manager. Nobody has ever been more of a straight shooter than Leyland, and Kelly is following in his footsteps.

“I think my strength would be in that communication and trying to do that effectively and efficiently as I can,” Kelly said. “But, certainly not perfect at it, and I’m always trying to get better, but I think it’s really important, though.”

Kelly is also consistently showing he has his players’ backs. The mild-mannered Kelly has already been ejected three times since replacing Shelton.

“I’ve always been pretty levelheaded, I think,” Kelly said. “I think in the moment, when you’re competing and you see the guys out there competing. You feel like, maybe it was injustice or disrespectful, whatever it is, that emotion takes over, I guess, and you try to eliminate it as much of that as possible.

“Still, you also want the guys to know that you are in it with them, and we’ve had some big calls late in games that obviously I didn’t agree with in the moment and ended up getting tossed.”

Kelly is only under contract through the end of this season.

Considering Cherington’s tenuous status, there could be more upheaval at the end of the season. Should the Pirates fire Cherington, the next GM would likely want to bring in his manager.

That would be too bad. Kelly is looking like a rising managerial star.