Don Kelly

Decision cost by category

Record

69-73

wins-losses

Games

151

with decision data

Lineup

4.38 R 0.03 R/G

Bunts

0.90 R 0.01 R/G

IBBs

3.59 R 0.02 R/G

Relievers

22.03 R 0.15 R/G

Season to date · categories cover different scopes and aren't summed into a total — reliever selection is high-leverage spots only; the Relievers leaderboard shows a rolling 30-day window.

Cost by category

Pittsburgh Pirates cost themselves 4.38 R from lineup decisions, 22.03 R from high-leverage reliever selection, 0.90 R from bunts, 3.59 R from intentional walks.

LINEUP DECISIONS · 4.38 R RELIEVER SELECTION · 22.03 R BUNTS · 0.90 R INTENTIONAL WALKS · 3.59 R

Season to date · shown per category, not summed — reliever selection is high-leverage spots only (the Relievers board uses a rolling 30-day window).

How this compares — league ranking

Lineup decisions

Don Kelly ranks 25th of 30 managers in MLB.

1 Dave Roberts LAD 2.08 R
2 John Schneider TOR 2.33 R
3 Craig Stammen SD 2.34 R
…
25 Don Kelly PIT 4.38 R
…
28 Carlos Mendoza NYM 5.24 R
29 Joe Espada HOU 5.45 R
30 Will Venable CWS 5.73 R

Bunt decisions

Don Kelly ranks 2nd of 30 managers in MLB.

1 Aaron Boone NYY 0.36 R
2 Don Kelly PIT 0.90 R
3 A.J. Hinch DET 0.93 R
28 Pat Murphy MIL 4.74 R
29 John Schneider TOR 5.31 R
30 Kevin Cash TB 6.33 R

Intentional walks

Don Kelly ranks 18th of 30 managers in MLB.

1 Joe Espada HOU 0.71 R
2 Clayton McCullough MIA 1.37 R
3 A.J. Hinch DET 1.44 R
…
18 Don Kelly PIT 3.59 R
…
28 Pat Murphy MIL 5.29 R
29 Dave Roberts LAD 6.33 R
30 John Schneider TOR 6.59 R

Game-by-game breakdown

Last 7 in tenure · Δ R/G

Sep 17 vs MIL W Garrett Stallings 7-4 +0.47 Sep 16 vs MIL L Logan Henderson 4-5 +0.73

⚐ Pulled too late cost ~0.73 R

Sep 15 vs MIL L Jacob Misiorowski 1-5 +1.66

⚐ Lineup mishaps cost ~1.39 R

Sep 13 @ CHC W Matthew Boyd 4-3 +1.05

⚐ Pulled too late cost ~0.83 R

Sep 12 @ CHC L Clay Holmes 3-4 +0.68 Sep 11 @ CHC L Shota Imanaga 2-12 +2.42

⚐ Lineup mishaps cost ~1.80 R

Sep 10 @ CWS W Erick Fedde 2-0 +2.60

⚐ Lineup mishaps cost ~1.76 R

Most costly decisions

Flagged · click for detail

SEP 10 · @ CWS +2.60 R/G

Lineup mishaps cost ~1.76 R

vs Erick Fedde · W 2-0

SEP 11 · @ CHC +2.42 R/G

Lineup mishaps cost ~1.80 R

vs Shota Imanaga · L 2-12

SEP 15 · vs MIL +1.66 R/G

Lineup mishaps cost ~1.39 R

vs Jacob Misiorowski · L 1-5

SEP 13 · @ CHC +1.05 R/G

Pulled too late cost ~0.83 R

vs Matthew Boyd · W 4-3

Tenure summary

Don Kelly manages the Pittsburgh Pirates, with their current tenure beginning March 26, 2026.

Through 151 games of decision data, their tactical decisions cost the team an estimated 8.87 R across lineup construction, bunt strategy, and intentional walks. Lineup decisions accounted for 4.38 R of that — the largest single category.

The team's 69-73 record places them 4 games under .500. Kelly has called 12 sacrifice bunts (0.90 R in expected runs). Intentional walks have been issued 21 times for an expected cost of 3.59 R.

Deep analytical views

The overview above is the SEO surface. Each link below opens the interactive analyzer for that decision type — sortable lists, per-game breakdowns, and the underlying numbers.

Keep reading

How this is calculated

Stats reflect only Don Kelly's tenure as Pirates manager — events from before the start date or after the end date are excluded. Lineup cost is the difference between an optimized batting order and the one actually used, summed across regular-season games. Bunt and intentional-walk costs come from per-decision run-expectancy deltas. Pitching cost is the sum of pull-timing and reliever-selection runs lost. Costs are shown as a season total and a per-game rate (R/G); rankings compare this tenure's per-game rate against the league-wide distribution of current and recent manager tenures. RunsLeft does not assign letter grades — the costs and rankings are descriptive analytics.

Read the full methodology. Career managing history coming in v2 with Lahman integration.