Finding Derek Shelton’s replacement was an easy call for Ben Cherington, as Don Kelly made such a strong impression that the general manager expressed his confidence in Kelly and called him “absolutely the right person to manage this team right now.”

“This is personal for him,” Cherington said of Kelly, a Mt. Lebanon and Point Park alum who played for the Pirates, Sunday on his weekly radio show on 93.7 The Fan. “This place matters to him, this team matters to him and it is truly not about him. It’s about all the people around him. … I feel good that people are going to respond to him for that reason.”

Finding Kelly’s replacement isn’t as simple.

The Pirates are still without a bench coach, which was exposed when Kelly was ejected in the bottom of the fifth inning of a 3-2 loss to the Atlanta Braves on Saturday. Third base coach Mike Rabelo pulled double duty, acting as manager for the remainder of the 11-inning game.

“We’re working through that as fast as we can,” Cherington said. “I expect we’ll have some adjustments. The clear first goal is we need to put Donnie in position to manage and lead the team and not be the bench coach. For the past two or three days, he’s kind of done both. That’s not sustainable. We need to make adjustments so he’s not doing both of those jobs, in fairness to him and the Pirates.”

Kelly had a multitude of duties as bench coach, which included running infield drills, daily communications with players and scheduling of meetings and workouts, Cherington said, and the Pirates want to remove all of those roles from Kelly’s workload so that he focus on managing with “as little distraction as possible.”

Cherington said they will either be given to someone else or redistributed to a number of others, which he expects to share sometime during the six-game road trip this week.

Cherington also provided updates on a handful of injured players:

• Center fielder Oneil Cruz left Saturday’s game with low back discomfort while running the bases in the ninth inning and was not in Sunday’s lineup. He’s listed as day to day.

“Obviously, he’s a huge part of the team,” Cherington said. “We need him to be at our best.”

• Shortstop Isiah Kiner-Falefa (right hamstring) is eligible to be activated from the 10-day injured list and is expected to return “any day now.” Cherington said Kiner-Falefa won’t require a rehabilitation assignment.

• First baseman Enmanuel Valdez (left shoulder), who was placed on the 10-day IL but could be an extended absence. “Unfortunately,” Cherington said, “it looks like it’s going to be awhile.”

• “All signs are good” for first baseman Spencer Horwitz, who missed all of spring training after undergoing right wrist surgery, as he closes in on the 20-day maximum limit of his rehabilitation assignment with Triple-A Indianapolis.

• Right-handed reliever Dauri Moreta (right elbow) is “performing well” on his rehab assignment at Indianapolis. Cherington said it’s been “full-go” for Moreta, whose velocity and stuff are back to where they were before his Tommy John surgery. Cherington noted that Moreta is “part of a collection of young, controllable option relievers,” a possible indication that he could remain in the minors.

• Second baseman Nick Gonzales (left ankle) did turns during baserunning drills Sunday at PNC Park, one of the final steps to showing he’s ready for a rehab assignment. It could be a shorter stint, given that Gonzales had a full spring training.

• Catcher/first baseman Endy Rodriguez (right index finger) also “turned a corner” in his recovery, as he’s throwing the ball and gripping the bat from both sides of the plate. Cherington said Rodriguez needs to play in games and expects a rehab assignment, saying, “hopefully, we’re not too far away from that.”