Kelly Crosses Finish Line in Bradenton

Anyone who doesn’t root for Don Kelly to succeed as manager of the Pittsburgh Pirates likely has issues with puppies and Santa Claus.

From day one of spring training, beginning last month at Pirate City and concluding on Monday at LECOM Park with the Pirates welcoming the Atlanta Braves to Bradenton for the final spring training game on the Grapefruit League calendar, Kelly grew quickly into his new full-time position. He shook more hands, smiled at more people (a fair amount he probably didn’t know), and made those he encountered feel like old friends.

Kelly was everywhere at all times. Chairman of the Board Bob Nutting, Ben Cherington, Pirates’ general manager, and club president Travis Williams picked a winner for their new manager long before Thursday’s Opening Day in New York arrives. Kelly is Pittsburgh through and through. What you see is what you get. A decent man who goes to work in a baseball uniform, minus the lunch pail.

It was sad to see this season’s version of Kelly’s first club as a full-season manager exit Manatee County on Monday. Long before the first pitch was thrown between the Pirates and Atlanta, the signs were there that the Buccos were leaving town. In the early morning hours, trucks were parked outside the Pirates’ clubhouse. On the opposite side of the walls, boxes and bags labeled were being loaded. By the early innings of the game, two buses were parked by the clubhouse to shuttle players and staff to Sarasota Bradenton International Airport.

New York City, here comes the Pirates.

When Kelly met with media members after workouts and later games, he looked reporters in the eye. It seemed important for the skipper to make a connection with those who genuinely wanted his attention and information. Never did meeting with reporters seem unimportant or rushed. Kelly understands those who cover Pittsburgh baseball have a job to do, too.

“It goes so fast,” Kelly said of six weeks of spring training. “The staff has been so amazing. “There’s so much going on. Pitchers throwing in the back field. Position players stretching and getting ready to catch. So much goes on during the course of a day.”

What in time, should define Kelly as a successful manager, is he hasn’t forgotten from where he came. His nine-season MLB playing career began as a Pirate in 2007. Those 25 games as a rookie, I would bet of the 584 total, are the most meaningful for Kelly. He’s a hometown guy. Born in Butler, Pa., growing up a Pirates fan, Pittsburgh management couldn’t have hit a (ahem) better home run than extending Kelly’s contract for this season.

With the many additions to the Pirates roster, including Marcell Ozuna as DH, infielder Brandon Lowe, outfielders Jake Mangum and Ryan O'Hearn, plus pitchers Gregory Soto, Mason Montgomery and Jose Urquidy, Kelly could feel a higher level of enthusiasm than in years past from fans attending workouts at Pirate City in mid-February.

“Honestly, I can’t remember when there was a time here where there was that many fans here excited watching spring training.”

Kelly’s Pirates won 17 Grapefruit League games. It was the performances of those on the roster and those invited to camp, not placed on the 40-man roster, that at times made the manager’s job difficult. Deciding on who goes north to Pittsburgh and who is reassigned to the minor league camp was tough for Kelly.

“Having been on the player’s side of it, I understand what the guys are going through in the locker room. From a staff perspective, having meetings and discussions, just trying to make sure you’re taking everything into account to make the best decision possible, is important. There are guys going to Triple-A that in the past probably would have made the team.”

After a three-game series at Citi Field, the Pirates are off to Cincinnati for three games, then begin their first homestand of the 2026 season on April 3 with the Baltimore Orioles at PNC Park. Something tells me that during pre-game introductions on April 3, manager Kelly is going to receive as big of a welcoming ovation from the fans as most, if not all, of the players.

Kelly is one of them – a Pirates fan who wants to see winning baseball at the North Shore. Win, lose, or draw, you know Kelly is going to work hard to keep that promise.