Derek Lee Shelton (born July 30, 1970) is an American former professional baseball

catcher Catcher is a position in baseball and softball. When a batter takes their turn to hit, the catcher crouches behind home plate, in front of the (home) umpire, and receives the ball from the pitcher. In addition to this primary duty, the catc ...

first baseman A first baseman, abbreviated 1B, is the player on a baseball or softball team who fields the area nearest first base, the first of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. The first baseman is responsible for the majori ...

, coach, and

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of organizations, whether businesses, nonprofit organizations, or a government bodies through business administration, nonprofit management, or the political science sub-field of public administra ...

. He is a former

of the

Pittsburgh Pirates The Pittsburgh Pirates are an American professional baseball team based in Pittsburgh. The Pirates compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central ...

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

(MLB). After his playing career in the

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Am ...

organization ended in 1993, he coached and managed within the Yankees minor league system between 1997 and 2002. He then served as a minor league hitting coordinator for the

Cleveland Indians The Cleveland Guardians are an American professional baseball team based in Cleveland. The Guardians compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. Since , the team ...

starting in 2003. Shelton was the

hitting coach In baseball, a number of coaches assist in the smooth functioning of a team. They are assistants to the manager, who determines the starting lineup and batting order, decides how to substitute players during the game, and makes strategy decisi ...

for the

from 2005 until 2009, and the

Tampa Bay Rays The Tampa Bay Rays are an American professional baseball team based in the Tampa Bay area. The Rays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East Division. They are one of two major ...

from 2010 until 2016. Shelton then worked as the quality control coach for the

Toronto Blue Jays The Toronto Blue Jays are a Canadian professional baseball team based in Toronto. The Blue Jays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East Division. Since 1989, the team has p ...

in 2017. He was the bench coach for the

Minnesota Twins The Minnesota Twins are an American professional baseball team based in Minneapolis. The Twins compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. The team is named afte ...

from 2018 through 2019.

Amateur and collegiate career

Shelton's father Ron coached baseball and freshman basketball while serving as an associate principal at Warren Township High School after his own professional playing career within the

Baltimore Orioles The Baltimore Orioles (also known as the O's) are an American professional baseball team based in Baltimore. The Orioles compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East Division. As one of the America ...

organization ended. Derek Shelton received his first set of catcher's equipment at the age of three, and later graduated from Warren, where he played for his father's baseball teams. Shelton's mother Kathy was also a teacher. His brother is Craig. After graduating from high school, Shelton attended

Southern Illinois University Carbondale Southern Illinois University (SIU) is a public research university in Carbondale, Illinois, United States. Chartered in 1869, SIU is the oldest and flagship campus of the Southern Illinois University system. SIU enrolls students from all 50 sta ...

where he played

college baseball College baseball is baseball that is played by Student athlete, student-athletes at institutions of higher education. In the United States, college baseball is sanctioned mainly by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA); in Japan, ...

for the Salukis. In his sophomore year (1990), the Salukis won 49 games and the

Missouri Valley Conference The Missouri Valley Conference (also called MVC or simply "The Valley") is the fourth-oldest collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States. The conference's members are primarily located in the Midwestern Unite ...

championship, and played in the NCAA Tournament. Shelton led the Missouri Valley Conference in 1991, his junior year, by throwing out 43% of opposing baserunners attempting to steal. While at SIU, Shelton earned a degree in criminal justice and minored in political science.

Minor leagues

Playing career

Shelton was a minor league catcher in the

organization in 1992 and 1993, advancing from the Short-Season A Oneonta Yankees to the

Single-A Single-A, formerly known as Class A and sometimes as Low-A, is the fourth-highest level of play in Minor League Baseball in the United States, below Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A, Double-A (baseball), Double-A, and High-A. There are 30 teams cl ...

Greensboro Hornets before an elbow surgery ended his playing career. Shelton played 46 games in his minor league career, and finished with a .341

batting average Batting average is a statistic in cricket, baseball, and softball that measures the performance of batters. The development of the baseball statistic was influenced by the cricket statistic. Cricket In cricket, a player's batting average is ...

, one

home run In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the Baseball (ball), ball is hit in such a way that the batting (baseball), batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safe (baseball), safely in one play without any error ( ...

, and 19

runs batted in A run batted in or runs batted in (RBI) is a statistic in baseball and softball that credits a batter for making a play that allows a run to be scored (except in certain situations such as when an error is made on the play). For example, if th ...

Coaching career

Shelton became a minor league coach in 1997, and managed Yankee minor league teams for three seasons, from 2000 through 2002. His teams achieved a .624 winning percentage, and he won the New York–Penn League championship in 2002 with the Staten Island Yankees.

Major league coaching career

Shelton was the minor league hitting coordinator for the

organization from 2003, until he replaced major league hitting coach

Eddie Murray Eddie Clarence Murray (born February 24, 1956), nicknamed "Steady Eddie", is an American former Major League Baseball (MLB) first baseman, designated hitter, and coach. Spending most of his MLB career with the Baltimore Orioles, he ranks fourth ...

on an interim basis in the midst of the 2005 season. Shelton became the

' hitting coach after the 2009 season. The Rays fired him in September 2016. On December 12, 2016, the

hired him as a quality control coach for the 2017 season. On November 6, 2017, the

hired Shelton as bench coach for the 2018 season. On November 27, 2019, Shelton was named the manager of the

. Shelton became the 41st manager in club history. On April 22, 2023, the Pirates announced that Shelton's contract had been extended. On May 8, 2025, the Pirates fired Shelton after a 12–26 start to the 2025 season.

Managerial record

Personal life

Shelton and his wife, Alison, have three children: Jackson, Kristina, and Gianna. They live in Treasure Island, Florida.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Shelton, Derek 1970 births Living people American expatriate baseball people in Canada Baseball catchers Baseball coaches from Illinois Cleveland Indians coaches Greensboro Hornets players Major League Baseball bench coaches Major League Baseball hitting coaches Minor league baseball managers Minnesota Twins coaches Oneonta Yankees players Sportspeople from Carbondale, Illinois Pittsburgh Pirates managers Tampa Bay Rays coaches Toronto Blue Jays coaches Southern Illinois Salukis baseball players Baseball players from Lake County, Illinois Staten Island Yankees coaches Baseball players from Jackson County, Illinois