The following words were spoken by a manager at PNC Park late Wednesday night, and it wasn't Derek Shelton.
“It has to do with belief. Our players walk out there expecting good things to happen. Many of us have been a part of teams where the opposite is there. That’s a tough rut to get out of. But the one we're on right now ... I want our players to continue to think that way, feel that way for as long as we can.”
To repeat, it wasn't Shelton.
It was Mike Matheny, whose Royals, in prevailing over the Pirates here, 9-6, remained the surprise of Major League Baseball with a 15-8 record that's better than anyone's anywhere. While, in turn, Shelton's side, in splitting this two-game miniseries, settled for remaining ... well, a surprise with a 12-12 record that's better than anyone anywhere anticipated.
Fun stuff. Both nights. Really was. On Tuesday night, the home team's pitching, particularly the bullpen, put on a show. On this night, even after Kansas City had staked a 6-0 lead off another maddening mess from Mitch Keller, the guys who aren't afraid of their own shadows roared back with a fistful of runs in the fourth and fifth innings to pull within one. And just kept coming. And coming.
For how much longer can they do it?
Heck, maybe it'll all end in short order, for one or both. Maybe, as Matheny seemed to suggest with that line about preserving the Royals' confidence "for as long as we can," both of these bubbles will burst. Maybe it'll be in May. Maybe June. Or soon enough that, by the time they fall, no one will remember anything about their relative Aprils other than that they, you know, occurred in April.
So, I couldn't help but wondering in witnessing this one from above: How does any team in this scenario navigate the interim?
And no, I'm not referring to any wacky hypothetical scenarios about whether or not the front office should buy or sell at the trade deadline, or plot other potential courses toward contention. In the Pirates' case, if I'm being blunt, it feels silly to even type that sentence. Ben Cherington isn't in the solar system of having to consider any such thing. At least from this perspective, a .500 opening month should represent nothing more to 115 Federal than the most modest of signs that they're on the right path.
But to the manager? And to his coaches? And to everyone else taking the field every day?
Oh, my. Totally different setting.
Which is what moved me to ask Shelton after this game to what extent his players and the team's collective performance might be forcing him to manage differently than he might've expected heading into 2021:
Wow, talk about surprises. I did not see that coming.
"I think the identity of your club will always force you to manage around it," his answer began. "And it's good. They're putting me and our staff in positions to make decisions. In a very positive way. And I think it's a credit to them."
Slight pause.
"You know, tonight, we lost. But we continued to come back. We had guys on base. Frazier gets the double in the eighth, Evans hits him in, and then we get another guy on."
Adam Frazier and Phillip Evans combined to cut Kansas City's lead to 9-6.
"So we're in situations. And I think we're pushing the throttle on people. We continue to play hard. So in that sense, yeah, they're giving themselves an identity, and then, I'm adapting around it. Which is awesome. That's the way we want it to be."
For the record, I offer the tape-measure equivalent for what Shelton did with my question:
Wait, no, Jacob Stallings' home run barely cleared the Notch after escaping Michael Taylor's glove.
I'll instead go with Erik Gonzalez's two-run, 453-foot mega-blast to the second tier of bleachers, right before it in that same fifth inning:
There. That's more like it.
This manager's good. And he's only just getting started.
As Shelton reminded, this game opened poorly. So poorly that, if not for his team "putting me and our staff in position to make decisions," he might've been justified in punting on the whole bleeping thing once it became clear Keller would bomb again. He could've let Keller linger longer than his 2 1/3 innings in hopes of leaving him with some semblance of confidence. He could've sent out Rule 5 pick Luis Oviedo -- who hasn't taken the ball in a week -- rather than bullpen mainstays Chris Stratton, Clay Holmes and Kyle Crick while his hitters kept chipping away. He could've given Colin Moran a full day off instead of having him bat late, than executing a double-switch to ensure he'd stay in there.
Why?
"Because if we're coming back, we need Colin in our lineup."
And these are just game calls. The broader calls apply, too, maybe more prominently.
Here's one: When Ke'Bryan Hayes returns, Gonzalez needs to supplant Kevin Newman as starting shortstop.
Not based on one big swing or one game, mind you. Gonzalez is slashing a blah .243/.263/.392, but he offers right-handed pop in a lineup that's got almost none, and even a blah line beats the tar out of Newman's .190/.217/.253. And it's not as if this violates some commitment toward the future, as Gonzalez is 29, Newman 27.
Also, there's this:
Gonzalez is the far superior defender, as this stirring 5-4-3 double play demonstrated to close the Kansas City fourth. And please trust me, regardless of how that slo-mo makes it appear, that Hunter Dozier shot was scorched.
"Great play," Shelton called it. "Kept us right in it."
Yep. Not much would get through a left side of the infield of Hayes and Gonzalez. So make the correct call.
Here's another: Stick Keller into long relief, at least until he no longer takes the mound looking -- and pitching -- like a mental wreck.
Meaning this:
Yikes.
Shelton's postgame assessment that what Keller most needs is to "continued to get the fastball in the zone" was where he could've started and stopped. Because this kid does nothing more than nibble, nibble nibble. And heaven help him when the first little facet goes awry. But Shelton proceeded, anyway, to add, "I think, obviously, you’re frustrated when you’re out there competing. He’s working his butt off between starts and, right now, it’s not translating as much as he would like. So, yeah, I think there’s some frustration."
Imagine how his teammates feel.
Keller apparently couldn't even handle a few questions, as he was the first no-show for the postgame interview session of any of the Pirates' starting pitchers in 2021.
Look, I'm not advocating a burial. The arm's there, the stuff's there, and so are the smarts. He just needs to toughen up. And while he does, ideally, there's zero harm in reducing his role. Give him his innings, keep him busy and all that. But it helps no one, least of all Keller, to keep sending him out there after anthems while his knees are still knocking.
As Sheldon intimated, he's being pushed now. And he owes his best game and lineup management to the players putting forth results. He knows that, as he expressed, and he's living it, as he's shown.
Like Matheny's Royals, let everyone "feel that way for as long as we can.”