Shelton: Pirates can 'figure out' PNC Park training

It might take some logistical juggling to pull off, but there could be spring training baseball at PNC Park in the not so distant future.

One of the newest proposals Major League Baseball is considering to get the 2020 season underway is to have teams resume their spring trainings not in Florida or Arizona, but rather their home ballparks. While the season still could be played in an Arizona biosphere or somewhere else, it would ensure that each city would get a taste of baseball in 2020, even if fans would not be allowed to attend.

But preparing in home stadiums also presents a new batch of challenges, including a potential lack in facilities. Spring training homes have more fields, pitching mounds and hitting cages than Major League parks.

Pirates manager Derek Shelton has expressed his excitement about the team finally coming back to Pittsburgh multiple times during the shutdown, but what if it was just for spring training? He and most of the overturned coaching staff have not spent much time at the stadium thus far. Could the Pirates pull it off?

"We can definitely figure [it] out," Shelton said in a conference call Monday. "However we were gonna do it, wherever we're at, we would be able to figure out and facilitate a schedule that would work."

If the second spring training won't be held in Pittsburgh, then Florida might be the next most likely. The state in the very early stages of starting to lift protective orders, and while Shelton is a Florida resident, he does not have much insight on when baseball can return there.

"Until we have a general idea of the health and safety, which I think is at the forefront of what we're doing, and making sure that our players and staff are healthy and we're aware of what's going to go on, then we'll make those decisions," Shelton said.

Another challenge teams could face is a restriction on mass gatherings. Allegheny County is just one of many counties in Pennsylvania and across the country to still be under a stay at home order. There could be restrictions in place that would prohibit a gathering of more than 25 people, so unless MLB teams are given an exemption by state governments, they would have to break off into groups.

If that were to happen, Shelton said the Pirates "would have to get creative" to get prepared.

"We're going to do whatever the health guidelines [are], regardless of the state we're in, and abide by them," Shelton said. "If we have to stagger... we can more than accommodate that."

Shelton also mentioned staggering as a possible solution if they had to prepare in Pittsburgh. Those groups would likely be a mix of pitchers and hitters, rather than just one or another.

There will be plenty of hoops to jump through to make it  happen, but Shelton is remaining optimistic that there will be baseball in 2020.

"For me and the way I'm think about it, there's not too many hoops," Shelton said. "I think whatever we can do -- and let's make sure that we're safe, we're healthy and we're abiding by all social guidelines -- but there's no hoops that are big enough. Anyway that we can find a way to play, we play."




More from Shelton's call:

• Minding player workload is going to be on the forefront once the team reconvenes. While this will be a shorter offseason than usual, players have not been able to prepare the same way they normally would, or in the same facilities.

“We have to be very mindful when guys come back about what our volume is, because we don’t a soft body tissue [injury] coming back because of the fact that guys were a little bit behind,”Shelton said.

• Another challenge in 2020 would be minding the volume. Since games will start in empty stadiums, plenty of discussions won't be drowned out by crowd noise and could be picked up by the other bench...or the broadcast feed.

"I think we're going to have to be very mindful of how loud we talk, and I think you're going to have to be very mindful with your conversations with umpires," Shelton said.

• The 2020 season could also come with a fresh batch of rules, including a universal designated hitter. Shelton and general manger Ben Cherington had been exclusively with American League before coming to the Pirates, so they have a strong understanding of how to use the extra hitter.

The Pirates do not have a clear DH on their roster, and if the rule change happened, they would probably rotate who gets to hit rather than stick with one person.

“A lot of that will depend on who our personnel is, what our health is, what our situation is," Shelton said. "So to say specifically what we’re going to do with it, I don’t see that we would ‘David Ortiz’-it or ‘Travis Hafner’-it where one guy’s doing it all the time.”

• Add Shelton to the list of people who is going to be watching some South Korean baseball.

ESPN will broadcast KBO games this year, offering a break from the rebroadcasts of old games. Shelton enjoyed those for a bit, but as he put it, there are only so many times you can watch the 1984 World Series.

"It gets the juices flowing," Shelton said about getting to watch live baseball again. "I've been known to watch Caribbean World Series games on ESPN in Spanish in the winter time sometimes."

There's a joke there, because as his wife has brought up multiple times, Shelton doesn't speak Spanish.

"I get the excitement when somebody hits a homer or somebody punches out."

• One more Shelton quote. This one doesn't need an introduction:

"I feel strongly that the country needs baseball. It's something that helps us heal, and by getting back to the game, our national pastime, is going to help.

"It's going to bring passion, it's going to bring excitement. Regardless of if you're staying at home, watching the game on AT&T [SportsNet], you're going to have passion for what we're doing."