Derek Shelton Clears Air With Pirates During Pittsburgh Return
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PITTSBURGH — As the Minnesota Twins took batting practice under a sunny Pittsburgh sky on Friday afternoon, manager Derek Shelton stepped into the visitor’s dugout at PNC Park for the first time since being fired by the Pirates a little over one month in the 2025 season. The return, he said, was anything but ordinary.
“Number one, I love this ballpark,” Shelton told a large group of reporters during pre-game warmups. “We’ve talked about that a lot over the last five years. There are a lot of good feelings. The first opportunity to manage. A lot of friendships. A lot of people here that I care about. There are a lot of good thoughts.”
Shelton, now 55, led the Pirates from 2020 into May of 2025, navigating a pandemic-shortened debut season, a franchise rebuild, and ultimately finishing with a 306-440 record in Pittsburgh. His dismissal came on May 8, 2025 after a 12-26 start to the season.
Now at the helm of a Twins team that has been surprisingly competitive, Shelton’s homecoming offered a rare chance for reflection.
A Night at the Clemente Museum
Before Friday’s series opener, Shelton gathered his Twins players for a team-bonding event arranged by an old friend: former Pirates player Josh Bell.
“We went last night [to the Roberto Clemente Museum],” Shelton said. “Anybody who knows me knows how important that place is to me. We had a really good night as a team, so it’s fun.”
The Roberto Clemente Museum, housed in a former firehouse in Pittsburgh’s Lawrenceville neighborhood, holds deep meaning for Shelton, who has long spoken of Clemente’s legacy as a player and humanitarian. The visit, he said, was both personal and purposeful — a chance to share the city’s baseball soul with his new club.
On Don Kelly, Ejections, and Leyland's Shadow
Shelton was quick to praise his successor and former bench coach, Don Kelly.
“Specifically what he’s done, I can’t speak to it. I don’t know,” Shelton said carefully. “With them not being in our division, I prepped for them now, so I have a better idea. When Konnor got called up, I was very aware of that. But overall, he’s a good baseball guy.”
When told that Kelly is tied for the MLB lead in ejections with three, Shelton smiled. “Is he tied with me?” Shelton asked. Told yes, he laughed.
“Three is the most? I did not know that. I did know that I had three. It doesn’t surprise me. I do last year, right after I left, he got a couple really quick. Those are all circumstantial. He’s also really close with Leyland, so you never know how that rubs off.”
As for his own ejection risk this weekend? “I’m trying to stay away from that,” Shelton said. “[My wife] told me I need to quit paying fines, so I’m trying to stay away from that.”
Reflecting on What Went Wrong
Perhaps the most candid moment came when Shelton was asked what he took away from his Pittsburgh tenure.
“That’s a good question,” he began. “I think probably the most important thing, you look at things … you want to highlight things you think you did well. Especially because of the fact when I was let go, I had a whole summer to really reflect on the things that I think I need to do better, things that I didn’t do as well. That’s where I spent a lot of time reflecting.”
Pressed for specifics, he answered without hesitation. “I think specifically the ability to listen. The attention to detail. I think there some things, probably later, the last six months, that I wish I would have done differently.”
He added later: “I wish it would have went differently, obviously. I think there were a lot of factors that come into play there. Some of them are out of my control. To look back on it, I will never look back on it in a negative connotation, regardless of how anything went down, how it went. Do I wish we would have had better teams here? Yeah. Was some of that out of my control? Yeah. But looking back at it negatively? I will never do that.”
From the Dugout to the Broadcast Booth and Back
After his firing, Shelton briefly worked in media, a detour that surprised even him.
“They reached out right away and just asked, ‘Hey, are you interested in doing it?’” he recalled. “I thought about it a little bit and after about two weeks of doing nothing, it was like, ‘Yeah, I’d like to do it.’ I didn’t know how it was going to go, but I had a lot of fun with it.”
The media stint, he said, restored his love for the game. “When you work for one specific team, that’s really all you focus on. … You get your love for the game back because you’re not focused solely on one team. … When you do this job, you get caught up in the day-to-day every day. You kinda forget why you want to do this.”
But managing pulled him back. “I think I knew I wanted to coach. There’s only 30 of these jobs, so opportunities are very scarce. Quite honestly, there were how many guys fired last year? Eight? And I got a job, so I’m very appreciative of that.”
A Text About Number 17
Shelton lit up when discussing Pirates starting pitcher Jared Jones, whom he watched develop in Pittsburgh’s system.
“I wish it was on Monday,” Shelton joked, referencing Jones’ season debut in the rotation. “But with their pitching, it really doesn’t matter because you’re going to get power arms at any point. Really happy for Jared. He’s grinded through multiple injuries. … He’s such a good kid.”
And then there was the matter of Jones' jersey number. Shelton noticed that Jones, who now wears No. 17 — Shelton’s old number — had switched.
“I actually texted him when I saw that,” Shelton said. “I love it. I told him, ‘Hell, I would have given it to you if you would have wanted it.’ I didn’t know he wanted it. But I did see that. I think the fact that he’s starting today is cool.”
No Regrets and No Fantasies
Asked if he feels any envy watching the 2026 Pirates — a club many believe is on the rise — Shelton demurred.
“I can’t live in a speculative world,” he said. “You can go back and say if this would happened and if this would have happened, but everything happens for a reason. I’m where I should be.”
He reserved particular praise for Pirates general manager Ben Cherington, his former boss. “They’ve dominated the draft and they’ve especially dominated the draft pitching-wise. … I think they’ve done an elite job here. … I still have a strong friendship with him. He’s a guy that I admire a lot.”
As the interview wound down, Shelton glanced out toward the Allegheny River, visible beyond the right-field wall. “This fan base deserves a winner,” he said. “They’re doing a really good job of building a nice club.”
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Ethan Merrill is from Grand Rapids, MI, and brings with him a diverse background of experiences. After graduating from Michigan State University with a degree in journalism, he worked with the Arizona Diamondbacks for three seasons before settling in the Pittsburgh area in 2020. With a passion for sports and a growing connection to his community, Ethan brings a fresh perspective to covering the Pittsburgh Pirates.