PITTSBURGH (93.7 The Fan) – Pirates manager Derek Shelton confirmed Roansy Contreras will start Tuesday in the beginning of a series pitting the two winningest teams in baseball as the Bucs travel to Tampa Bay at 6:40 on 93.7 The Fan.
Contreras has become what they had hoped, a top of the rotation pitcher who has given up three earned runs in his last 18.2 innings including six shutout innings against the Dodgers on April 26. For the season, Contreras is 3-1 with a 3.58 ERA, 24 strikeouts, 12 walks and no home runs allowed.
“Throwing the ball on the plate, staying in attack mode,” Shelton said on the Cook and Joe Show on 93.7 The Fan of how his right-hander has evolved this year. “That’s been the most important thing. The difference is there have been games where the fastball didn’t work or the curve didn’t work or the slider didn’t work and he’s adjusted to the other pitches. I think that’s something that is really important. We are seeing him develop into being able to weaponize what is available that night. There is where the consistency comes in this year.”
Measuring stick
Shelton said they are opening a series against probably the best team in baseball, their MLB best 23-6 record would confirm that. The Bucs manager said they are facing really good pitching, a MLB leading 3.10 ERA, 1.11 WHIP and .209 average against would confirm that. Shelton said they are going to have to play really good baseball, but wouldn’t use the cliché.
“I don’t know if it’s a measuring stick series,” Shelton told Ron Cook and Joe Starkey on 93.7 The Fan. “We’ve played some good teams already. It’s the teams with the two best records right now. The Rays are a good team. We will have to play good baseball, like we have for the first month. Not really looking at it that way, looking at it like we need to continue to play good baseball like the first month of the season.”
Rays Win
Their payroll $2,153,071 below the Pirates, yet Tampa Bay is constantly in the playoffs in a division with the Yankees and Red Sox.
“I think the model of the organization is they’ve done a really good job in a small market using everything they have available to them,” Shelton told The Cook and Joe Show. “I can speak from experience there, because I was here for seven years working for the Rays and saw how they operated. They do a really good job.”
“The synergy between their front office and the staff is elite. The continuity and the messaging is important. The thing I took away from (manager Kevin) Cash is the things they didn’t know, they would ask. It was impactful for me my first year. I would ask for help. They showed a ton of humility.”
What he also knows about Tampa Bay is it’s a transient community and when it comes to baseball he expects a number of Pirates fans in attendance over the course of the series. Understandable, the Bucs train 30 minutes away from Tropicana Field, there are many transplanted Pittsburghers and Shelton said his wife (family based in Tampa) alone has handed out a noticeable amount of tickets.
Without Cruz
Shelton admitted he is a little surprised with the team’s start to the season, especially having a pair of long winning streaks. It’s also a team that lost a starting pitcher for the season and their most dynamic player, shortstop Oneil Cruz.
“It still is a big blow for us, he’s one of our best players,” Shelton told 93.7 The Fan of the loss of Cruz. “The message was next man up. The great thing with how we’ve created our club this year, that message wasn’t initially delivered by me. Carlos Santana and Andrew McCutchen took it upon themselves to get the group together and say we’ve got to continue to go. We’ve lost a piece, but there are a lot of good people in this room. We will back-fill it and we have to continue to play.”
“That’s why you add guys like that, so it’s a message that doesn’t have to come from the manager or the coaching staff, which is the way it’s been over the last few years. Now it comes from the player group which is much more important.”
It’s payrolls 27 and 28 in MLB with the two best records in the game. The three-game series preview starts at 5:30p on Tuesday with Dan Zangrilli hosting the North Shore Tavern Lead-Off Show and first pitch at 6:40p on 93.7 The Fan.