Derek Shelton


Derek Lee Shelton is an American professional baseball coach and former catcher. He is the current manager of the Pittsburgh Pirates of Major League Baseball. Shelton has spent the last 15 years as a coach in some capacity at the Major League level.
Shelton was the hitting coach for the Cleveland Indians from 2005 until 2009, and the Tampa Bay Rays from 2010 until 2016. Shelton then worked as the quality control coach for the Toronto Blue Jays in 2017. He was the bench coach for the Minnesota Twins from 2018 through 2019.
Personal Information
Shelton is married to Alison. They have three children: Jackson, Bella, and Gianna. They live in Treasure Island, Florida.

College career

Shelton attended Southern Illinois University, where he played college baseball for the Southern Illinois Salukis. He played for the Salukis when they won 49 games in 1990, his sophomore year, and the Salukis won the Missouri Valley Conference championship and played in the NCAA Tournament. He led the Missouri Valley Conference by throwing out 43% of opposing baserunners attempting to steal his junior year. Shelton graduated from SIU with a degree in criminal justice.

Minor leagues

Playing career

Shelton was a minor league catcher in the New York Yankees organization in 1992 and 1993, playing alongside Derek Jeter and Mariano Rivera. Shelton played 46 games in his minor league career, and finished with a.341 batting average, one home run, and 19 runs batted in.

Managing career

Shelton managed Yankee minor league teams for three seasons, from 2000 through 2002. His teams achieved a.624 winning percentage, and he managed several future MLB players, including Robinson Canó, Dioner Navarro, and Chien-Ming Wang.

Major league coaching career

After spending five seasons as the hitting coach for the Cleveland Indians, he accepted a job with the Tampa Bay Rays at the same position after the season. The Rays fired him in September 2016. On December 12, 2016, the Toronto Blue Jays hired him as a quality control coach for the 2017 season. On November 6, 2017, the Minnesota Twins hired Shelton as bench coach for the 2018 season.
On November 27, 2019, Shelton was named the manager of the Pittsburgh Pirates. Shelton became the 41st manager in Club history.