PITTSBURGH -- Derek Shelton had a backup plan for last Thursday afternoon.

With the Pirates’ home opener -- along with the rest of the baseball season -- postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic, Shelton wanted to find a way to be with his coaching staff even if he couldn’t stand alongside them in the home dugout at PNC Park. So Pittsburgh’s manager set up a Zoom conference call for 1:35 p.m. ET, the scheduled first pitch time, and took a moment to chat with all of his coaches as a group.

“It was emotional,” Shelton said Wednesday during his weekly appearance on KDKA-FM. “It was something that was really important to me, that the coaching staff was together at that time.

“One of the things I told them is, ‘I wish I was standing next to you guys on the line looking at a packed ballpark, looking at the Clemente Bridge, but we’re going to get to that point at some point.’ It was more just an appreciation for everything they’d done in Spring Training and to be together a little bit.”

During the delay, Shelton has remained in frequent contact with Pirates staff, coaches and players from his home near St. Petersburg. He has actively avoided guessing about when the season might begin, noting the more significant issues caused by the COVID-19 outbreak and accurately pointing out that any suggested plan is just speculation at this point.

“Everything is speculative, and we all want to get back to playing games. Until we really know what’s going on, it’s hard to even say, ‘Yeah, we should do that’ or, ‘No, we shouldn’t do that,’” Shelton said on KDKA-FM. “I think we’re all at a point where we want to play and we want to be back on the field.

“The most important thing is safety, not only for the players but for the staff and the clubhouse guys and the trainers and everybody else. Once we get to that point, then I’m going to be really fired up.”

But Shelton has allowed himself to contemplate some of the logistics that might come into play whenever the season does start. Specifically, Shelton told KDKA-FM hosts Ron Cook and Joe Starkey that he’s thought about ways to make sure players stay healthy “where we’re not going too fast for somebody to get hurt” upon returning to action. Those considerations will affect his lineup construction, playing time, bullpen usage and the conversations he has with players.

“The fact of the matter is we really are going to have to watch how our guys’ bodies react,” Shelton said. "The most important thing is going to be the conversations -- not only with myself and the staff with the trainers, but the players have to be extremely open and willing to discuss, ‘Hey, today’s a day where I’m dragging a little bit.’ Then you may have to adjust. We’re going to have to be very mindful of how our players’ bodies are.”

That was something the Pirates already intended to emphasize this year after experiencing a rash of major injuries last season, but it will become even more important given the stop-and-start schedule and the informal workouts players have been taking part in at home.

“You have those conversations in August with players because they’re starting to wear down,” Shelton said. “We’re going to have to have those conversations at a much sooner place, just in terms of where their bodies are at.”

While it’s been widely assumed that pitchers will need a couple weeks to prepare for the season, no matter when it begins, Shelton said he’s less worried about how this downtime will affect hitters. The longtime hitting coach said only a “low number” of players have access to pitching machines that can replicate high-velocity fastballs or breaking balls, but most are at least able to hit off a tee or into a net.

“It’s more making sure that their core stays activated,” Shelton said. “That’s the biggest thing for hitters, the constant turning and the obliques and the abdominals. As long as we’re staying activated, core-wise … I feel comfortable with that. Even if it’s swinging off a tee or swinging off soft toss, we can ramp that other stuff up. That’s not as big of a concern to me.”