PIRATES

PIRATES

Don Kelly at PNC Park.

After five-plus years as the Pirates' bench coach, Don Kelly is now being tasked with taking the helm of his hometown team. 

Kelly, a Butler, Pa., native who attended Mt. Lebanon High School and Point Park University, was promoted today to manager after Derek Shelton was fired amid a 12-26 start to the season. He'll meet with the media at 3:25 p.m. tomorrow at PNC Park before his debut against the Braves.

“Donnie is as respected as any person in our clubhouse and throughout our organization,” Bob Nutting said in a statement. “He is a Pirate. He bleeds black and gold. No one is more committed, and no one loves this team or city more than Donnie. He is the right person to manage our team and help get us back on track.”

Kelly's first full-time managerial opportunity doesn't have an interim tag tied to it, as Ben Cherington said he'll serve in a "permanent" basis for the remainder of the 2025 season, though it wasn't clear what that meant. Cherington added that a bench coach replacement will come later.

Kelly, 45, the brother-in-law of former Pirates second baseman Neil Walker, slashed .230/.294/.334 with 23 home runs and 98 RBIs in 585 major-league games during his nine-year playing career, making his debut with the Pirates in 2007 after learning he'd make the team on the final day of spring training. He appeared in the postseason in four consecutive seasons with the Tigers and played in the World Series in 2012 with Jim Leyland as his manager, then finished with the Marlins in 2016.

The most memorable moment of Kelly's playing career came in Game 5 of the American League Division Series against the Yankees in 2011. He hit this solo home run off former Pirates pitcher Ivan Nova in the top of the first inning of a 3-2 win to help lead the Tigers into the ALCS: 

To put into perspective what type of player Kelly was, and the person he is, here's a clip of Leyland, his mentor and one of his most vocal supporters, discussing that special postseason moment: 

After retiring as a player, Kelly joined the Tigers' player development staff in 2017 and was promoted to major-league scout later that year before taking a job as first base coach with the Astros a year later. He joined the Pirates' staff prior to the start of the 2020 season and, at times, has served as acting manager, including last week when Shelton attended his son's college graduation in Florida. He also interviewed for the Tigers' managerial position ahead of the 2021 season before A.J. Hinch was hired. 

"This is someone who cares way more about the Pirates, the city, cares way more about the people in that clubhouse than he does about himself,” Cherington said. “He comes to the ballpark every day focused on only one thing -- how to help this team get better. It's truly not about him because it never has been. It will have to be a little bit more now as a manager, and I think he understands that. I have so much faith in the combination of the human he is and the skills that he has, and the reasons he does the job. He does it for only one reason -- to help the Pirates because he believes in the Pirates and wants to deliver for Pittsburgh."

Cherington said that Kelly has a calm demeanor that should help him get the best out of his players in this new role. They'll certainly look to him to help provide a spark in the clubhouse, as the team is currently in the midst of a seven-game losing streak and back-to-back series sweeps at the hands of the Padres and Cardinals. 

“He’s got a teacher’s heart," Cherington said. "He wakes up thinking about how to help someone else. That does not mean that it’s going to miraculously turn into massively different results right away. That’s not how the game works. We know that, right? Over time, I believe that his approach, personality and style can have a positive effect on our players. But just as importantly, we’ve got to support him. I’ve got to do my job better. We’ve all got to do our jobs better so that he can do his, as well.”