Pirates schedule gifts them incredible opportunity to fire Derek Shelton
News flash: The Pittsburgh Pirates lost again. They were shut out by the St. Louis Cardinals on Wednesday, falling by a score of 5-0 — and scoring a total of four runs in a three-game sweep at the hands of their NL Central rivals. Pittsburgh has now lost seven in a row and sit at 12-26 on the year.
To say things are dire in Pittsburgh would be an understatement. This brutal start has some fans clamoring for the team to fire manager Derek Shelton; he might not be the man to blame for the mess the Pirates find themselves in, but something has to change. And Pittsburgh’s schedule could gift them an easy opportunity to do just that.
Fresh off their series in St. Louis, the Pirates have an off-day on Thursday before returning home for a three-game set against the Atlanta Braves over the weekend. That brief reprieve could be reason enough to let Shelton go.
Pirates schedule gifts them golden opportunity to fire Derek Shelton
As mentioned above, many Pirates fans have been begging for the team to fire Shelton, and to be honest, it’s hard to blame them. Shelton is in his sixth year in Pittsburgh and has a record of 306-439. The Pirates have never won more than 76 games in a season in his tenure, and haven’t come close to sniffing .500 or the postseason. How many managers survive this long without even putting together a winning season?
While Shelton has not gotten results, can anyone seriously blame him? The Pirates do have a strong starting rotation, but Jared Jones’ injury has hurt on that front. Their lineup, outside of Oneil Cruz, has underperformed and is underwhelming on paper, and their bullpen is a major weakness as well. While Shelton can be blamed for questionable lineup and bullpen decisions at times, his team simply isn’t talented enough to compete in a loaded National League.
It’s easy to see both sides of the coin here. Shelton has unquestionably been dealt a bad hand, but he also has had six years to prove himself. Good managers get the most out of rosters that lag behind talent-wise, and Shelton has not done that. This Pirates team has holes, but even as constructed, they shouldn’t be the third-worst team in the game.
Firing him, at the very least, might provide a spark to a team that needs it. Things certainly can’t get any worse. Now that the Pirates have a day off to evaluate where they are as a franchise, it wouldn’t be surprising to see Shelton get the boot.
