August will forever haunt Pittsburgh Pirates manager Derek Shelton. He’s had enough of his club failing to close out ballgames routinely this month. Blowing a seven-run lead over the final four innings against the Chicago Cubs on Wednesday was the last straw.
Shelton went berserk in his postgame press conference, illustrating his frustration. Pittsburgh’s recurring theme of late-game blunders has ostensibly taken a toll on him. So, he blasted his team for letting what should’ve been a convincing victory slip away, not taking accountability for his contributions (or lack thereof).
A frustrated Derek Shelton possibly as angry as he’s ever been as Pirates manager pic.twitter.com/Oj7qCAzCsd
— Austin Bechtold (@AustinRBechtold) August 28, 2024
“My concern level is we’ve got to finish games,” Shelton said when asked about the direction the Pirates are heading. “We look at the games at the games we’ve lost in August. It’s because we have not finished games. I mean, how many of these games have we had the lead? How many of these games have we been one strike away? One pitch away? So yeah, we’ve got to figure out how to finish games.”
Acknowledging Pittsburgh’s deficiencies is critical, especially for a developing team that’s one of the youngest in the MLB. But as the head of the snake, Shelton must take responsibility for not putting the Pirates in better positions to seal contests. Instead, he bashes his players for their struggles:…