'It's in him': Don Kelly has shown competitive fire, fight in 1st month as Pirates manager

Don Kelly seemed stunned to learn before Monday’s game against the Miami Marlins that it marked one month since he had been named manager of the Pittsburgh Pirates, perhaps because he’s been too busy adjusting to his new role to spend time in reflection.

“It’s been a month?” Kelly asked with raised eyebrows inside his office at PNC Park. “At times, it feels like it flies. Then, at times, you feel like learning those things takes time. But it’s gone by pretty quick.”

Inheriting a team with a 12-26 record upon the firing of Derek Shelton on May 8, Kelly has guided the Pirates to 15 wins in his first 29 games, including a four-game winning streak entering Tuesday’s game against the Miami Marlins. That includes their first series sweep of the season against the Philadelphia Phillies over the weekend.

No wonder Kelly called that the most gratifying part of his new role since being elevated after five-plus seasons as bench coach. His impact has been undeniable, especially in close games. Exactly half of his first 28 games were decided by one run, with the Pirates going 8-6.

“I’d like to say the winning,” Kelly said. “The wins, I think, is a natural thing to say. But I think it’s the process of how the guys are competing, playing. Like we talked about in some of those games, we lost some of those games, but we finished the game.”

The 45-year-old Mt. Lebanon and Point Park alum is quick to smile and pay compliments, his easygoing personality belying a competitive nature on display when Kelly received multiple ejections in his first month.

Kelly was tossed in his second game as Pirates manager by home plate umpire Clint Vondrak for arguing balls and strikes against the Atlanta Braves on May 9. A week later, Kelly was ejected again. This time, it came at Philadelphia after two-time MVP Bryce Harper drew a walk on a full-count pitch that landed in the strike zone in a four-run seventh inning that led to an 8-4 loss. Kelly also was thrown out of a 3-2 loss at the San Diego Padres on May 30 for arguing a full-count called strike against Henry Davis, a pitch clearly outside the zone.

“Not intentional at all, to be honest,” Kelly said. “For most of you that know me, I’ve always been pretty level-headed, I think. It just happened. I think in the moment, when you’re competing and you see the guys out there competing, you feel like, maybe it was injustice or disrespectful, whatever it is. That emotion takes over, I guess, and you try to eliminate as much of that as possible.

“Still, you also want the guys to know that you are in it with them, and we’ve had some big calls late in games that obviously I didn’t agree with in the moment and ended up getting tossed.”

What bothers Kelly most is the disrespect he believes the Pirates have been shown. He admits to taking it personally when umpires don’t make the right call. Kelly has talked to the team about individually and collectively earning respect instead of expecting it to be given.

That hasn’t gone unnoticed by Pirates players, who rallied around Kelly’s ejections by emphasizing it was incumbent upon them to play better baseball to earn the respect of their opponents and the umpire crews.

“He took it upon himself to have our backs and go out there and fight for us,” Pirates designated hitter Andrew McCutchen said. “That’s all we can ask for from a player’s standpoint because as much as we want to say something, we’ll get ejected and it may hurt the team. So, he stood up for us. It’s good to have that.”

McCutchen was in the minor-league system when Kelly played for the Pirates in 2007, so seeing him flip the switch with a fiery display wasn’t a surprise. Kelly scrapped his way to playing in 584 major-league games over nine seasons, often earning the final spot on the roster because of his positive demeanor and his willingness to play any position needed.

“No, I knew he had it in him,” McCutchen said. “It’s in him. It’s a funny thing when you start to make things not about yourself and you start thinking about other people, it will have you do some things outside of yourself and your personality. It hasn’t surprised me that he’s thinking about the people around him before he’s thinking about himself. Obviously, I’m not saying that Shelton didn’t do that, but that’s something I see in DK. That’s why it doesn’t surprise me that he has a fire about him when he needs it. There’s also respect when he speaks.”

The greater challenges for Kelly have been in communications, both with his media obligations and voicing his vision to players, the latter of which he considers a strength. McCutchen said Kelly has been direct in dealing with his decision-making, especially when it comes to sharing which situations he plans to make strategic moves.

Kelly also delegated his previous roles within his coaching staff. Instead of hiring another bench coach, he added former American League Manager of the Year Gene Lamont as an adviser, gave some of the game-planning duties to third-base coach Mike Rabelo and added Triple-A Indianapolis manager Chris Truby to handle infield coaching duties.

That has been reflected in the results. Since snapping a streak of 26 consecutive games without scoring more than four runs — which tied an MLB record — the Pirates have scored five or more runs seven times, including games of eight, nine and 10 (twice). They have played 20 error-free games and reduced their baserunning gaffes.

And they are riding a four-game winning streak, their longest since last Sept. 8-11.

“We’ve played good baseball,” Kelly said. “Early on, we talked about that, too. There’s always going to be mistakes in baseball. How do we limit those in doing it but play the game aggressively in a way to win the game, not to go out for fear of failure or making mistakes and finding a way to play with that freedom and aggressiveness? I do believe that the guys have done a really good job of that.”

And Pirates players are quick to credit Kelly for the turnaround.

“He’s just great,” right fielder Bryan Reynolds said. “Everyone in here loves him. He’s fun to play for, so not much more you can ask.”