The Pirates extended the contract of manager Derek Shelton, but did not provide details:

“He’s gonna be here,” Cherington said without elaborating. “(I am) excited the contract will extend past this year, (but) would rather not get into anything else. He deserves it. We’re excited to see what lies ahead.”

TheAthletic.com

Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette writes about Shelton’s positive qualities:

Shelton has been an interesting manager to cover. While his favorite topics involve movies, music or bourbon, he’ll often play dumb or feign that complicated words are over his head. One reporter (this one) keeps a running tab of #fancy words Shelton drops, stuff like vivacious (April 4 at Red Sox) or eclectic (April 7 vs. White Sox).

The gag, of course, is that Shelton isn’t stupid. Far from it. And he knows that. But it makes it easier to relate to players, members of his staff or people around the team whenever you aren’t determined to be the smartest or loudest guy in the room.

Post-Gazette.com

I had a very negative impression of the Pirates going into the season, and I’m still not sure they are really this good. I’m glad, however, that I gave them a 2% chance of winning the division. A division win is never impossible. Sometimes things just click.