Getting ejected as strategical as it was about emotion for Pirates manager Derek Shelton

There were aggressive gestures, irritated facial expressions, loud shouts. Even at least one choice curse word.

There’s little doubt that Derek Shelton was angry after his star player, Bryan Reynolds, was called out on strikes on what should have been Ball 4 during a crucial at-bat of the Pittsburgh Pirates’ game at the Milwaukee Brewers on Saturday evening. But to hear Shelton tell it after the game, getting ejected for the seventh time over his 307 games as Pirates manager was as strategic as it was based on emotion.

“You have to protect your players, and in that situation, we need Reynolds to stay in the game,” Shelton said. “It’s just one of the things that happens.”

It does happen, and Saturday it perhaps played a role in the Pirates’ 4-3 come-from-behind win. The typically stoic Reynolds was visibly annoyed after home-plate umpire Roberto Ortiz rung him up on a 3-2 pitch that capped at eight-pitch at-bat that occurred with two men on and nobody out during a two-run game in the seventh inning.

Reynolds had taken a step to first base after the four-seam fastball, which MLB’s own technology confirmed was out of the strike zone. Soon after, Shelton began chirping from the dugout as Reynolds walked back to it.

“He saw what he saw,” reliever Wil Crowe said. “We all saw it out there, even in the bullpen. And for him to do that (get ejected), he’s got our backs. He’s got our backs. He’s our guy. If he doesn’t believe in something and he sees it like he did, (not being) the right way, he’s going to go out there and let us know he has our backs at all times.”

The Pirates had lost three of their previous four games and scored 13 runs over the 6 ½ -plus games before their seventh-inning outburst.https://t.co/5K5p4mn0w5

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Shelton’s ejection was his second of the season, joining a May 15 game against the Cincinnati Reds that the Pirates won. It also involved balls and strikes, as six of Shelton’s seven career ejections have happened since he took over as Pirates manager for the 2020 season.

Saturday after Shelton was tossed and bench coach Don Kelly was designated as in charge, the Pirates added three more runs the rest of that inning — punctuated by a Ben Gamel two-run homer — that provided the difference in the victory.

“You hate to see him tossed,” Gamel said, “but we know he’s gonna go to battle for us every day of the week.”

An affable type who likes to talk, Shelton has a reputation as a players’ manager. He’s made it clear he wants his players to know they have his support. That can manifest itself in many ways. Consider how before his first game as manager in 2020, Shelton stood behind Jarrod Dyson as he kneeled during the national anthem and hugged Dyson afterward.

On the other end of the spectrum is shouting a four-letter word to get thrown out of a game so that a star player doesn’t have to be. But Shelton’s players seemed to appreciate the gesture just the same.

“I think it fires us up,” pitcher Zach Thompson said. “It (inspires) the guys to get out there with more fire under their butts and get moving. It was cool.”

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