As Derek Shelton's quick hook draws criticism, Pirates manager explains method for pitching moves

Jun. 21—Derek Shelton isn't surprised by the second-guessing from Pittsburgh Pirates fans and followers every time he makes a decision that backfires, especially when it comes to giving his starting pitchers a quick hook.

The Pirates manager does it to himself every day.

"Actually, I do revisit every decision," Shelton said Sunday after the Pirates' 2-1 loss to the Cleveland Indians. "I think about it after games."

Shelton was booed at PNC Park for pulling JT Brubaker in the seventh inning Sunday when the right-hander had two outs with a runner on second and had just got Harold Ramirez, who homered in his previous at-bat, to ground out.

Brubaker left after throwing 76 pitches in 6 2/3 innings in a tied game, only to see lefty reliever Chasen Shreve give up a single to left-handed hitter Josh Naylor for the go-ahead run. For Shelton, it was more about the matchup than Brubaker, whom he called "extremely efficient."

"We went into that inning, if we had a guy on base and we had the left-hander there, we were going to go to Shreve," Shelton said. "And Shrever came in and got a ground ball that went through. But, yeah, it was a matchup. JT threw the ball well. So, that was 100% my decision on (that move). We had the matchup we liked, and it didn't work out."

Only three times has a Pirates starter pitched into the seventh inning or deeper this season: Brubaker went seven innings in a 4-2 win over the Minnesota Twins on April 23, and Tyler Anderson pitched 6 2/3 innings in a 2-0 loss at San Diego on May 3 and eight innings in a 6-5 win at the Chicago Cubs on May 9.

After spending most of his coaching career in the American League, where the presence of the designated hitter doesn't require as much creativity, Shelton is drawing criticism amid adjusting to his first full season of managing in the National League.

While some of Shelton's decision-making can be disputed, Pirates general manager Ben Cherington has been impressed with his attention to detail. Shelton is learning how to manage on the job with a team that lacks talent and depth, and he is doing so during a pandemic.

"I don't have to do it because he does it, but he will dissect every decision he makes during a game," Cherington said. "Sometimes, those decisions are not really impacting whether it's a win or a loss. But the importance of dissecting them and learning from them is that over time, they add up and they may affect wins and losses and eventually they will start to impact wins and losses more.

"We want to get really good at those. How are we making decisions? What information are we basing those decisions on? What are the factors that are in play? He's great. He does that religiously after every game: What did we do? Why did we do it? Did we have a good process for it? Whether it worked or didn't, what do we learn from it? How do we tweak that going forward? We want to be doing that all the time."

To his credit, Brubaker handled the hook like a pro. He noted it is both the nature of the National League and a "health situation." After missing a week while on bereavement leave for the death of his grandmother, the Pirates are building Brubaker back up slowly. He returned to pitch 4 2/3 innings in a 5-3 loss to the Dodgers and five innings in a 3-2 loss to the Nationals in his first two starts.

"I missed 10 days, so trying to get my arm back into the shape of going deeper into games for health," Brubaker said. "It's just how National League games are played. That's just how it is."

Shelton addressed both topics — the long-term health of pitchers and making pitching changes in the National League — over the weekend, and stressed that protecting pitchers is a priority for the Pirates.

Management of workload is a key for the remainder of the season, as three Pirates starters already have surpassed their innings pitched from last season's 60-game schedule: Tyler Anderson has pitched 73 2/3 innings in 13 starts, compared to 59 2/3 in 11 starts last year for the San Francisco Giants; Brubaker has pitched 71 2/3 innings in 13 starts, compared to 47 1/3 in nine starts last year; and Mitch Keller has pitched 47 1/3 innings in 12 starts, compared to 21 2/3 in five starts last year.

After a stint on the injured list with right shoulder discomfort, Chad Kuhl also is fast approaching his 46 1/3 innings in nine starts last year, with 35 in eight starts. Lefty Steven Brault, who threw the Pirates' only complete game last season, has yet to pitch this season because of a lat strain and won't return until at least after the All-Star break.

"Throughout the game, you're going to start to hear that really come into play as we get into the 70- and 80-game mark because workload is going to be a challenge," Shelton said. "And the workload challenge, if you talk to pitching guys, is not as much (about) this year but next year and the prevention of injury. And no one's got a crystal ball."

On the flip side, Shelton has to be careful not to overburden the bullpen. Relievers Richard Rodriguez, Chris Stratton and Sam Howard already have surpassed their total innings and appearances of last season. After carrying the Pirates through the first two months, they are showing signs of wearing down by blowing leads in late innings.

Where Shelton leaned heavily upon the bullpen in April and May, it backfired in June during the 10-game losing streak, especially against the Indians. When he pulled Anderson after six innings (and 92 pitches) against the Dodgers on June 9, Clay Holmes, Howard and David Bednar combined to throw three scoreless innings in the 2-1 loss.

But when Shelton pulled Chase De Jong after five innings against the Brewers, Holmes gave up five runs in a 7-4 loss. When Shelton pulled Wil Crowe after five innings and 82 pitches against the Brewers, Bednar gave up a two-run homer and Howard a sacrifice fly in the 5-2 loss.

Pulling Kuhl in Friday night's 11-10 win over the Indians is probably a move Shelton wishes he could have back, even if he defended how pinch hitter Phillip Evans drew a walk and scored a run in the five-run sixth that gave the Pirates an 11-1 lead.

"Chad was coming out either way. I don't want you to think he wasn't. But his spot came up. And we scored because Phil hit in that spot," Shelton said. "That plays into it in a lot of factors also and the challenge of when you're making a pitching decision if the pitcher's going to hit, where in an American League game you don't ever have to worry about that. You just have to worry about when you're taking the guy out."

Kuhl left with a 6-1 lead after throwing 77 pitches in six innings, only for Cleveland to rally back against the bullpen. Howard, who has since gone on the IL with right knee tendinitis, gave up a career-high six runs on four hits and two walks. Kyle Crick allowed three runs (two earned) in two-thirds of an inning. Rodriguez had runners on second and third when he recorded the final out with a strikeout of Bobby Bradley.

All of these outcomes are dissected by Shelton and taken into consideration the next time he has to make a pitching decision, right or wrong, and head down the dugout or out to the mound to pull a starter.

"Yeah, sometimes it is challenging when you walk down there and tell a guy, 'Hey, you're done,' " Shelton said. "I think the one thing that we try to do with our group is we try to walk through and communicate what our thought process is, not only for the guy on the mound that day but for the other four guys and how it goes about it."

Mostly, that they live to see another day and another decision.

Kevin Gorman is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Kevin by email at kgorman@triblive.com or via Twitter .