Shelton hardly sweating Pirates' skeptics taken in Bradenton, Fla. (Pirates)

Derek Shelton talks with the media at Pirate City. -- ALEX STUMPF / DKPS

BRADENTON, Fla. -- Hope springs anew here, but outside the city, many have already counted the Pirates out for 2020.

Following a 93-loss season and a last-place finish in 2019, most have the Pirates staying in the cellar in 2020. USA Today predicts they will lose 102 games, which would be their most since 2010. Baseball Prospectus' PECOTA standings have them as roughly the same team they were a year ago, going 70-92 with only a 1.4 percent chance of making the postseason.

Those naysayers and projections don't have much effect on Derek Shelton.

"I think, externally, what people think is not as important as what people think in our clubhouse, how we feel and how we feel we're going to be," Shelton said after Friday's workout. "People can say, 'You're going to do this, and you're gonna do that,' but until we get on the field, you don't know."

As Shelton pointed out, he was on the Twins last year, a club that was not very well regarded heading into the regular season but ended up winning 100 games and their division.

He didn't want to compare the two clubs like that, but there is a difference, he added, between what is said in the offseason and what happens in the regular season.

"The game's played by human beings and professional athletes. I think once we get into that, that's going to be the fun part."

• A bounce-back season from Chris Archer would really help the Pirates beat those projections, and Shelton sounds optimistic about his right-hander.

"I think he's going to have a big year," Shelton said. "I think when you challenge Chris Archer -- and I think last year he got challenged -- there's good things to come."

Jarrod Dyson may have irked some people for his brutally honest explanation of why he signed with the Pirates, but it looked like he was having fun at camp today, smiling and joking with his new teammates. At the end of practice, several of the younger players pulled up stools next to his locker, hanging on his every word.

Seems like the type of guy you need to help build a culture.

Oneil Cruz, the gigantic shortstop prospect, is in camp. More on that in a separate article later tonight.

• The last two major position players yet to report are Gregory Polanco and Adam Frazier. They don't have to be here until Sunday.

• Spotted Pablo Reyes at Pirate City, too. He wasn't originally on the team's official list of non-roster players getting an invite to spring training.

• Want some footage of Ke'Bryan Hayes in the cage? Because I have some footage of Ke'Bryan Hayes in the cage:

• Relief pitcher Geoff Hartlieb had drastically different results between Triple-A and the majors in his rookie season last year, recording a 2.50 ERA in the minors and a 9.00 with the Pirates. There were several factors that went into that, including the jump in level and a right foot injury, but he did not get to pitch the way he wanted with the Pirates.

Hartlieb saw how Gerrit Cole evolved as a pitcher in Houston and wanted to do the same, but Ray Searage insisted he throw sinkers instead.

"This year I think you're going to see a difference in how I approach pitching," Hartlieb was telling me.

J.T. Riddle battled a forearm injury last year with the Marlins that sidelined him for the final two months of the season. At the risk of making a best shape of my life cliche, he did say can tell the difference between how he feels now and a couple months ago.

"I probably haven't felt this good in my whole career," Riddle was telling me. "I feel better, feel stronger."

Riddle signed a major-league deal last month, but he does not have a guaranteed spot on the opening day roster yet.

His best selling point right now is his ability to play multiple positions in both the infield and outfield.

"He's extremely athletic," Shelton said. "That's a good thing, especially in a National League club when you're able to bounce. It makes it a little easier to manage."

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