Don Kelly

Decision cost by category

Record

37-37

wins-losses

Games

75

with decision data

Lineup

2.89 R 0.04 R/G

Bunts

0.56 R 0.01 R/G

IBBs

1.83 R 0.02 R/G

Relievers

14.15 R 0.19 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 2.89 R from lineup decisions, 14.15 R from high-leverage reliever selection, 0.56 R from bunts, 1.83 R from intentional walks.

LINEUP DECISIONS · 2.89 R RELIEVER SELECTION · 14.15 R BUNTS · 0.56 R INTENTIONAL WALKS · 1.83 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 23rd of 30 managers in MLB.

1 Dave Roberts LAD 0.87 R
2 John Schneider TOR 1.08 R
3 Pat Murphy MIL 1.26 R
…
23 Don Kelly PIT 2.89 R
…
28 Carlos Mendoza NYM 3.71 R
29 Joe Espada HOU 3.84 R
30 Will Venable CWS 4.08 R

Bunt decisions

Don Kelly ranks 7th of 30 managers in MLB.

1 Walt Weiss ATL 0.00 R
2 Aaron Boone NYY 0.09 R
3 A.J. Hinch DET 0.39 R
…
7 Don Kelly PIT 0.56 R
…
28 Torey Lovullo AZ 2.80 R
29 Pat Murphy MIL 2.76 R
30 Will Venable CWS 2.88 R

Intentional walks

Don Kelly ranks 23rd of 30 managers in MLB.

1 Don Mattingly PHI 0.11 R
2 Chad Tracy BOS 0.17 R
3 Walt Weiss ATL 0.33 R
…
23 Don Kelly PIT 1.83 R
…
28 Terry Francona CIN 2.90 R
29 Kurt Suzuki LAA 3.42 R
30 Pat Murphy MIL 4.11 R

Game-by-game breakdown

Last 7 in tenure · Δ R/G

Jun 17 @ ATH W Aaron Civale 12-4 +0.02 Jun 16 @ ATH W Jack Perkins 6-5 +1.43

⚐ Pulled too late cost ~1.30 R

Jun 15 @ ATH L J.T. Ginn 2-11 +2.73

⚐ Pulled too late cost ~1.59 R

Jun 14 vs MIA L Max Meyer 2-4 +1.19

⚐ Lineup mishaps cost ~1.08 R

Jun 13 vs MIA W Lake Bachar 3-2 +1.23

⚐ Pulled too late cost ~0.79 R

Jun 12 vs MIA L Sandy Alcantara 3-8 +1.16

⚐ Lineup mishaps cost ~0.99 R

Jun 11 vs LAD L Justin Wrobleski 6-8 +1.14

⚐ Pulled too late cost ~1.14 R

Most costly decisions

Flagged · click for detail

JUN 15 · @ ATH +2.73 R/G

Pulled too late cost ~1.59 R

vs J.T. Ginn · L 2-11

JUN 16 · @ ATH +1.43 R/G

Pulled too late cost ~1.30 R

vs Jack Perkins · W 6-5

JUN 13 · vs MIA +1.23 R/G

Pulled too late cost ~0.79 R

vs Lake Bachar · W 3-2

JUN 14 · vs MIA +1.19 R/G

Lineup mishaps cost ~1.08 R

vs Max Meyer · L 2-4

Tenure summary

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

Through 75 games of decision data, their tactical decisions cost the team an estimated 5.28 R across lineup construction, bunt strategy, and intentional walks. Lineup decisions accounted for 2.89 R of that — the largest single category.

The team is 37-37 and exactly even. Kelly has called 5 sacrifice bunts (0.56 R in expected runs). Intentional walks have been issued 11 times for an expected cost of 1.83 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.