Even if a talented quarterback like Lamar Jackson (L) or Mason Rudolph (R) fall to them, Steelers must stay the course.

As we draw closer to the NFL Draft, Steeler fans are waiting in anticipation to hear whose name will be called to join the Black & Gold. Last season the Steelers struck gold in the first two rounds, selecting T.J. Watt out of Wisconsin and JuJu Smith-Schuster from Southern Cal. Both were able to make an immediate impact while becoming fan favorites in the process. Watt was an instant starter who brought much needed dynamic play to the outside linebacker position. Smith-Schuster was able to pull in one of the best seasons for a Steelers rookie wide receiver and solidified himself as the number two receiver in the offense behind Antonio Brown.

This year many believe the Steelers will go defense with their first two picks, especially to find a potential replacement for injured middle linebacker Ryan Shazier, who has already been ruled out for 2018, though he does wish to play again at some point in the future. But many draft pundits have the team looking towards the future on the other side of the ball, specifically the quarterback position.

Despite the fact the Steelers selected Joshua Dobbs out of Tennessee last year, there has been talk for months that they could draft another quarterback with one of their first two picks.  Though Dobbs didn’t wow anyone with his production during his inaugural preseason in the league, he looks to have a potential higher ceiling than Landry Jones. And it is not like Jones went anywhere, he is still projected to be Ben’s backup this fall.

So are the Steelers trying to go after one of the big four in the quarterback class this year? That answer is no and could be a good thing in the long run, in my opinion. Outside of Sam Darnold, who looks more and more like he will go number one to the Browns, Josh Allen, Baker Mayfield and Josh Rosen all have red flags. Allen struggled with accuracy in his senior year at Wyoming against a weak Mountain West schedule. Mayfield has too much moxie for his own good at times, which could make him a target as an undersized quarterback in the league. Rosen could be the biggest bust of them despite probably having the best overall package of the four. His character has become his biggest question mark with a millennial attitude rubbing many coaches and scouts the wrong way. In my viewpoint, his toughness is also something that should be questioned. But barring one of the greatest draft falls of all time, these guys will be long gone before the Steelers pick. Then who are the Steelers potentially going after? That answer would be Oklahoma State’s Mason Rudolph and Louisville’s Lamar Jackson.

Both of these quarterbacks have been atop of the team’s draft board since the Combine where they were interviewed by the club. Rudolph was a star in Mike Gundy’s uptempo pass offense, leading the Cowboys to one of their best stretches since the Brandon Weeden days. Pitt fans definitely remember how well he clicked in that offense after he basically threw at will against the Panthers overmatched secondary. That included setting the record for the most passing yards given up by a Pitt defense in program history in 2016 during their first meeting in Stillwater. Pat Narduzzi is still losing sleep over that game. Over his last two seasons, Rudolph passed for over 9,000 and 65 touchdowns while only throwing 13 interceptions in that span. In 2017 he led the entire NCAA in passing with 4,904 yards. Despite being a prolific passer at Oklahoma State, the major red flag facing Rudolph is the fact that he may just be another system quarterback and will struggle in NFL. Weeden was that way, flaming out with the Browns before becoming a backup for several teams. Though the Steelers are not a wasteland for quarterbacks like Cleveland, taking a chance on Rudolph may not be in the best interest for the club.

Jackson may not only be the most intriguing quarterback in this draft, but the most intriguing prospect in this entire draft. In his three seasons with the Cardinals, the South Florida native put up some of the most impressive stat lines we have seen produced by a dual threat quarterback in the history of college football, especially in 2016 the year he captured the Heisman trophy. He was able to rack up 1,571 yards on the ground and 21 touchdowns while throwing for 3,543 yards and 30 touchdowns. Some games in that season he just looked invincible, with his speed reminding fans of Michael Vick. Hell, even Vick himself said Jackson is the second coming of himself but with a better arm. Though many like Vick feel this way, there are some who believe the Louisville star will flop at quarterback and end up like Pat White did when he was drafted out of West Virginia over a decade ago by the Miami Dolphins. And there are some, including former general manager Bill Polian, that think Jackson should make the move over to wide receiver like former Steeler Antwaan Randle El and the New England Patriots Julian Edelman. It is clear he has the dynamic ability to play in the league at a high level if given the chance to grow, but with the team already developing a quarterback like him in Dobbs, is he worth the investment of a first or second round pick?

Though Mike Tomlin may have been in person to see both these quarterbacks at their Pro Day, selecting a quarterback even in the second round isn’t a winning formula for a team just a few pieces away from getting to a Super Bowl. The front office needs to go defense early in order to help this group finally get over the hump. Whether that be a middle linebacker like Reuben Foster from Alabama or Boise State’s Leighton Vander Esch, there needs to be some young blood at the position because it is a crap shoot whether or not Shazier will ever be cleared again. Even if they get their linebacker in the first, the team should be considering adding another safety or outside linebacker into the mix with their second round pick. In most years it would make sense for the Steelers to take the best player on the board if that is Rudolph or Jackson, but with the Super Bowl inches away, defense is the only way to go.

The post Steelers Can’t Go Quarterback Early In This Year’s Draft appeared first on The Point of Pittsburgh.

Clint Hurdle has taken this team as far as he can with the budget granted to him.
Photo: Brett Davis-USA TODAY Sports

Without a doubt, Clint Hurdle is one of the best managers in the modern era of the Pittsburgh Pirates. Though he can’t hold a candle to the likes of Danny Murtaugh, Chuck Tanner and Jim Leyland, Hurdle is head and shoulders above some of the guys this franchise has hired to captain their ship. Gene Lamont was a dollar store version of Leyland. Lloyd McClendon was out of his mind. Jim Tracy was just looking for a check. And John Russell, yikes! Hurdle has been the guiding force every step of the way in the Pirates resurgence back to prominence in baseball. But, as everyone reading this should know, all good things must eventually come to an end.

Both the contracts of Clint Hurdle and general manager Neal Huntington are set to expire at the end of this season. Back in June, Fox Sports’ Ken Rosenthal cited anonymous sources in the organization that the Pirates would extend both men before this season ends. Two and half months later, neither of the men has been officially offered an extension by the club. Though this is a rumor, Pirates owner Bob Nutting allegedly has a contract ready for Hurdle to sign whenever he is ready. And as this column’s headline suggestions, Clint would be out of his mind to accept that contract. Allow me to elaborate by providing an example from my life.

At the news station I used to work for (not going to name names, you know who you are), I witnessed a management that was more concerned with making money can than running a successful news station. While their competitors invested thousands and thousands of dollars in advertising on TV, radio and billboards, they would never advertise outside the networks they controlled, thinking their past success would continue based on their reputation of being “Pittsburgh’s most watched and most trusted news station”. But when the other stations would beat them in the ratings, the management would bicker back and forth in meetings as to why they were getting killed in the ratings, mainly blaming their own employees. Though I was just a freelancer at the station, I would still try and help at the station as much as I could, even offering to come in when I wasn’t scheduled to work. But as you saw in the first part of this paragraph, the station didn’t like to spend money, and even though I was making only $10 an hour, they would sacrifice the quality of their news just to save a few bucks.

What I witnessed/went through at this station is exactly what Hurdle is going through. He knows this team can be better than they are. He knows they can be one of the top teams in baseball. Except, like the news station I worked for, Nutting sticks to a tight budget, refusing to spend any additional money even though it could make the difference between being a contender or not. Though our plights were/are similar, the difference between my situation and Hurdle’s is that I was let go by this station. Nutting would never fire Clint Hurdle unless this team started losing a 100 plus games again. Actually, he might keep him even if that happens. But with Hurdle yet to sign the extension that is waiting for him, he still has a chance to break free from King Nutting’s clutches.

You can tell this season more than ever that Hurdle is on his last nerve with how this organization is being run. Usually a laid back manager, the Pirates skipper has become more and more testy with members of the media during pre and post game interviews. And at this point, you can’t blame him for being on edge? Have you seen how many rookies he has had to played this season? At one point in mid-May, the Pirates 25 man roster had NINE rookies on it. That’s 36% of the roster for those who aren’t good at math (I’m not good either that’s why I’m in media). They were barely at the quarter pole of the season at that point. With a week away from the rosters expanding, the Pirates currently have six rookies, including Angel Sanchez, who surrendered two solo home runs in his major league debut to the Dodgers. Having to play as many rookies as Clint Hurdle has would drive even the most sane manager crazy. The most troubling thing is that it didn’t have to be like this.

Yes, Nutting is not to blame for Jung-ho Kang not being allowed into the country because he’s a reckless drunk. He’s not to blame for Starling Marte getting popped for taking the same steroids that turned the Steelers into four time Super Bowl champs during the 70’s. What you can blame him for is the iron fist grip he has kept on his team’s payroll, despite the obvious holes this team had even before these two were lost. He didn’t have to back up a Brinks truck for an All-Star or even a borderline one, all he needed to do was allow Huntington to add a few quality bench players. Instead, Pirate fans have been treated to the likes of Max Moroff, Jordan Luplow and Chris Bostick, who have no reason being on a major league roster, at least one that fancies themselves as a potential contender.

To be honest, I think Hurdle is one of the better managers in baseball. If he does decide to walk away from Pittsburgh, he will have no problem finding work as a manager or coach with another team. I don’t want him to go, but I know he has done all he can with this team. And if he accepts that extension from Nutting, he is going to have to put up with the same crap again. For a man that just hit 60, that type of stress is something any doctor would not recommend someone that age going through.

The saying goes ‘if you love it set it free.’ I know how much Clint Hurdle loves this city and the way it has embraced him, but he needs to set himself free.

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Gregory Polanco has been frustrating and brilliant, often in the same game, at times this season.
Photo by Kim Klement/USA Today Sports

One of the bigger disappointments for the Pirates over the last four seasons has been the slow development of Gregory Polanco at the major league level. Labeled as another five tool player like Andrew McCutchen and Starling Marie before him, the kid nicknamed ‘El Coffee’ was supposed to be the final piece to completing what some once considered to be possibly the best outfield in all of baseball. That was then, this is now. Since Polanco’s debut in 2014, the Pirates have witnessed a lot more valleys than peaks in Polanco’s four seasons in Pittsburgh, with 2017 a prime example of it.

This is especially true with the Dominican right fielder’s averages in each month this season. His monthly averages are: April .247, May .310, June .183, July .387, August .125. These all equal to a .255 average, which is around what he posted the last two seasons (.256 in 2015 and .258 (career-high) in 2016). Batting around .250 is not necessarily a bad thing since a lot of guys, especially with the Pirates, have averages around .230 and below. But five tool guys don’t hit around .250, at least at the beginning of their careers (*cough Cutch last season*). They also don’t take until May 11th to hit their first home run of the season.

Coming into 2017, I boldly predicted Polanco would eclipse his career-high in home runs, set last season, by hitting at least 25 to top his previous-high of 22. Unless he goes Giancarlo Stanton on us (continue reading to learn why he won’t have a chance to do that), his 10 home runs is not going to get him there. Believe it or not, 10 homers is still good for the second-best home run total of his career. Sad! Terribly, terribly sad. People with the Pirates and who covered the team hyped Polanco’s power like he was the second coming of Darryl Strawberry. He’s definitely no Strawberry, in all honestly, he’s been more like a durian.

Gregory Polanco has especially stunk it up in the outfield. In my 25 years on this Earth, I have never seen a more timid or lost player in the outfield than this guy. If I list all the terrible plays Polanco has been responsible for, I may meet my 1000 word requirement just on those, but to spare you from punching your screen while revisiting past frustration, I will only highlight a few. One many should remember is a play in right field at Wrigley Field in 2015. In the bottom of the 12th inning with the score tied at 10, Cub’s catcher Matt Szczur hit a playable fly ball to Polanco. With the bases full of Cubs, the then second year outfielder was looking to gun Starling Castro out at the plate if he would attempt to charge home for the game-winning run. But he did not get a chance to do that because he did not even catch the ball. Somehow, a turf monster caught Polanco, slipping on the Wrigley grass, allowing the ball to drop and Castro to score and end the game.

Granted, that was two years ago and he does occasionally gun out guys at home and will flash that he actually can make above average plays in the field. But even more so now than then, you see that he is more cautious on balls hit to him. This, however, may have more to do with his hamstring issue than anything else.

As you know, Gregory Polanco hurt his left hamstring again in a Saturday afternoon loss to the Blue Jays north of the border. Surprisingly enough, he was chasing a fly ball when he re-aggravated his hamstring, an injury that has plagued him since July. Hamstring injuries can be tricky. There are so many ways you can re-trigger the injury that it is almost not worth it bringing Polanco back this season, which is the move the Pirates need to make. Yes, I understand they are “still in the midst” of the race for the NL Central, but you also need to start thinking about the future. Polanco is on the books for the Pirates through at least 2021, with option years for 2022 and 2023. Unless they look to trade him, and who would legit want him at this point for the price Neal Huntington would probably be asking, he is stuck in Pittsburgh for the next four years. But shutting down Polanco for the season is not just to heal that nagging hamstring to full health, it is also to send a message.

Gregory Polanco is about a month removed from his 26th birthday. In the real world, if you are 26, you better have your sh*t together because you are an adult and no one will feel sorry for you. In baseball, if you are 26 and don’t have your sh*t together, some commentator will come up with an excuse that he is just a young player struggling. I am done making excuses for Polanco. The guy needs to grow up and start playing at the high level that he has shown flashes of over his four seasons. Polanco has the talent to help get the Pirates back to the promised land of the playoffs; he has done just that in small doses before. But the Pirates need bigger doses from him. They need him to take the next step in his development and take his game to a more consistent next level. If Polanco can do that, the Pirates could actually be a force in the Central instead of the pretender they have been this season.

Though I have ripped him a lot in this column, I am honestly pulling for Polanco to figure out his full potential. It is more than just turning on a switch for him. There is something else missing. Maybe a sports psychiatrist would help him. If he has not seen one already than this should be the route the Pirates take with him this offseason. It is worth a shot. But for their own good now and in the future, sitting out Gregory Polanco for the rest of 2017 is the Pirates’ best option.

The post Pirates Should Shut Down Gregory Polanco For The Rest Of The Season appeared first on The Point of Pittsburgh.

Sean Rodriguez is back after a tumultuous offseason.
Photo by Justin Berl/Getty

It was like something out of a movie. More specifically, a baseball movie. Player reacquired by former team hits game winning home run in his second plate appearance back with the club. But this wasn’t Hollywood. It was just Pittsburgh’s version of Serpico. Sean Rodriguez, who had been traded back to Pittsburgh last Saturday in exchange for minor leaguer Connor Joe, delivered a walk off solo home run for the Pirates to give them a 5-4 victory over the San Diego Padres Sunday afternoon. With most trades in major league baseball, the players involved have 72 hours to report to their new city. Unlike his contemporaries, Sean Rod did not wait three days to show up in the Pirates clubhouse. He was there, the next day just in time for the team’s 1:35 game and be the hero.

The fact that Rodriguez is back in Pittsburgh, nevertheless playing this season, is again something out of Hollywood. In late January, Sean, his wife Giselle and four children were injured in Miami when a stolen police car t-boned the SUV they were driving. Luckily the only one to lose their life was the idiot thinking he was in Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, but the Rodriguezs were still badly hurt. Two of the four children required hospitalization then later released. Giselle took the worst of it, sustaining a fractured femur, tibial plateau, broken wrist and three broken ribs. It was months before she could move around without the aid of a wheelchair or walker.

Sean unfortunately took part of the blow from the crash, injuring his rotator cuff and leading to surgery. Initially, doctors told the veteran utility man that he would miss roughly four to six months or possibly the season depending on how the rehab on his shoulder would progress. This was incredibly tough for the Atlanta Braves, who signed Rodriguez to a two year, $11.5 million deal. The Braves, who were preparing to open their new stadium in Cobb County, brought the veteran to be the everyday second baseman. Two weeks after the car accident, they acquired Brandon (Pirate Killer) Phillips from the Reds to fill the hole left by Serpico. But to the surprise of his new team, Rodriguez was ready to begin his rehab assignment by the beginning of July. It didn’t go well.

Across almost every level of the Braves minor league system, Rodriguez could only muster three hits in 39 at-bats in a two week rehab stint. To just put in perspective how bad that is, Tim Tebow has collected three hits in a game four times so far this season in Class A. That’s how weird baseball can be. Freakin’ Tebow can have as many hits in one game than a major league hitter has in close to 40 at-bats on a rehab assignment.  After his 2017 Major League debut, the Braves immediately began utilizing the skills Serpico is known for (both the baseball and the Al Pacino movie version): being a jack of all trades. Atlanta used him primarily as a third basemen and briefly in left field. Hopefully Sean Rod wasn’t too rusty with third. In his two years in Pittsburgh, he saw 19 games at third base. But like his sample size in the minors, it must have been good enough for Neal Huntington.

Though he remained mostly idle at the deadline, the Pirates general manager finally made a move to bring in reinforcement to a depleted bench. To be honest, all Huntington is trying to do is recapture the magic from last season with Sean Rodriguez. This is every front office’s thought process when they re-sign or reacquire a player that has been with them previously, whether it be the season before or not. I mean, all they gave up for him was a Single A first baseman who has never hit over five home runs in any minor league campaign. Granted, Joe is a former first round pick, but like most Joe’s, pretty sure the Braves got an average one in the deal. Getting back to the important player in the deal, Rodriguez has not let Sunday just be a teaser for production that could fade away fast. So far it hasn’t faded.

In his four games since returning to the Pirates, Sean Rod has gone 4 for 13 with 2 home runs and 3 RBIs. Coincidence or not, the team is undefeated in those games and has won four of five (Rodriguez did not play in Wednesday’s night shutout loss). You can sense there is a new energy in the clubhouse with Sean Rod back. Did you see Cutch on Sunday?!? He is just happy they finally have some reinforcements that they could have used in April, May, June or July, but hey August works too. There is no way knowing how long this new energy lasts for the Pirates. It could die North of the Border along with any hopes the Pirates have of somehow stealing the division. To be a hopeful optimist, I don’t think it will run out.

Granted, the energy will last as long as the Cubs continue to tread water in first place. And I understand one utility man cannot provide all the offense to make up the obvious firepower difference on paper between Chicago and Pittsburgh, but why can’t this Pirates group be a team that does the impossible? It can’t be all Sean Rodriguez like I said above, but the Pirates offense as a whole needs to be clicking. Starling Marte getting on base, Josh Bell continuing to hit the ball out of the park and Andrew McCutchen being Andrew McCutchen are things this team needs and then some. If the Sean Rodriguez trade somehow leads to the happy ending of the Pirates winning the NL Central, this story will immediately be made into a movie, probably with Billy Gardell funding it. For all he’s went through, let’s hope Serpico can end up being a true Steel City savior.

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We’ve seen enough of what Jaso can’t do. Time to see what younger guys can do.
Credit: Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports

A few weeks back, the Pirates looked to have finally figured things out. After completing a four game sweep of the then first place Brewers, they were only two games out of first place prior to jetting out on their longest Western road trip of the season. Though they would rout the Colorado Rockies 13-5 in their first game of the extended trip, the team would lose Gregory Polanco to a hamstring injury for a week and a half. To take his place, Clint Hurdle decided to do what he loves to do most: platoon. And who is Clint’s favorite player to platoon this year? That’s right, old dread head himself John Jaso. Though the former catcher was at one point this season one of the clutchest players on the team (I’m not making this up), he has been not only one of the worst players on the Pirates in the last month (-0.6 WAR), but for my money’s worth the worst in all of baseball.

Prior to hitting a pitch hit single off Kevin Shackelford in the seventh inning of last night’s win over Cincinnati, Jaso had gone almost one whole month without getting a hit. His last hit came all the back on July 5th when he went 1-5 in a win over the Phillies. For the month of July, Jaso went 3-40 with 1 homer and 2 RBIs. Despite his obvious struggles, Hurdle continued to throw the player some refer to as “the man with the dirty hair” in the lineup. My issue here is, though I know Clint likes to play the matchups, that Jose Osuna should and deserves to be playing more than Jaso.

Unsurprisingly (and sad in my opinion), John Jaso has appeared in more games at each corner outfield spot than Osuna. The former Tampa Bay Ray has been in right field 32 times this season and left field 16 times while the rookie has only played right 21 times and left 14 times. Despite there being a 13 games difference between games played in the outfield, Osuna has been way more productive in his 35 appearances. Osuna is hitting .303 in right and .300 in left with a combined 3 home runs and 15 RBIs. On the flip side, Jaso has been atrocious when in left, hitting .174 though he is hitting .240 in right. His combined homers in the corner outfields equals the rookie, but he has driven in three less runs.

Obviously, Osuna’s numbers would be a lot higher (and better) if it wasn’t for Hurdle playing John Jaso like some charity case. In a season that has been full of chaos and disappointment, the play of Osuna has been a pleasant surprise that he has been able to adapt for the most part to the major league game. But let’s be honest, he should have more than 5 home runs and 24 RBIs with the flashes that he has shown this season. I didn’t realize his stats were so low until I heard Greg Brown relay them during one of the radio broadcasts this week. Down the stretch, if Hurdle has any wits left in that old noggin of his, he will play Osuna when either of the corner outfielders needs a day off. Adam Frazier is an option too, if he’s not already filling in on the infield.

But it can’t be Jaso. I am sick to my stomach every time Hurdle puts him in the lineup, especially knowing there are better places on the bench. Mark Madden, who I never want to say brought up an interesting point outside of hockey, asked a question on his radio show early this week about whether John Jaso was the worst Pirates regular ever. If this was another major league team, I would totally agree that he is the worst regular in team history, but we are talking about the Pirates here. This is the same franchise that finished under .500 for 20 plus seasons. Those 1993-2012 Pirates had plenty of scrubs to go around. If I start rattling them off I might be here all day, but a few names that come to mind are: Derek Bell, Ty Wigginton, Andy LaRoche (If you have any more names please leave them in the comments below).

I get that Jaso is going to be gone after this season and if the Pirates were going to designate him for assignment, Neal Huntington would have already made that move. But at this point, with another under .500 season looking more and more likely, getting rid of the former catcher will open up more opportunities for guys that are going to be a part of the club beyond this season, like Osuna and Frazier. At this point, I would rather see Jordan Luplow get another shot in the big leagues, or dare I say it, bring Phil Gosselin back up (typing that was painful). From what I have seen out of John Jaso over the past month, it cannot get any worse.

This team isn’t going anywhere this year (and probably not next year either). Keeping or getting rid of John Jaso will not change the course of this team the rest of the season. But, as I said above, dumping Jaso now will open up a spot on the bench for someone the Pirates have much more invested in beyond this year, unlike Jaso who is a free agent following this season. If I want to watch a mediocre player the rest of the season, I would rather it be someone who needs the at-bats to improve than a player who is not going to be here. If Huntington does part ways with Jaso, let’s hope some team is dumb enough to claim him off waivers. Teams do need bats this time of year, and if the team can get cash considerations or even a prospect for their resident hippie, they need to jump on the deal. Though Jaso did give the Pirates some great at-bats over the past two seasons, the bad outweighs the good way too much. Hopefully Neal heeds my plea, but like last week, it will fall on deaf ears.

The post It’s Time To End The John Jaso Experience appeared first on The Point of Pittsburgh.

Can Huntington improve the bench at the deadline?
Photo by Jared Wickerham/Getty Images

Over the past six seasons during their latest resurgence, the Pirates have been far from their all out selling days of a decade ago at the July 31st trade deadline. Though they have not sold the farm to get over the hump, Neal Huntington has tried a calculated approach to the deadline. In 2011, he traded for veterans Ryan Ludwick and Derrek Lee, and though the team would fall down the stretch (as they would again in 2012), it showed that Huntington would add to this club if they were in contention late in the season.

Last season was a bit of a quagmire at the deadline. Huntington would trade for Ivan Nova, but also send Mark Melancon and Francisco Liriano (along with two highly regarded prospects Reese McGuire and Harold Ramirez) out of town. Many folks were cursing the Pirates general manager up and down Federal Street when the Melancon trade happened, but that was before they saw witnessed the awesome that is Felipe Rivero, who is now either the first or second best reliever in the National League, depending on how you feel about Kenley Jansen. And with how bad the Washington Nationals bullpen has been in 2017, this trade looks more and more as one the biggest train robbery trades in not only Pirates history, but in recent major league baseball history. With the club 4.5 games behind the now surging first place Cubs, the question is should Huntington even do anything at this year’s deadline?

This is a loaded question in my opinion, especially with the Cubs playing like one of the best teams in baseball again. Honestly, who didn’t think the Cubbies weren’t going to figure it out eventually? We know (at least we think) Huntington isn’t going to sell off any big pieces like Andrew McCutchen, Gerrit Cole or Josh Harrison. This is hopefully reassuring. But if the Pirates aren’t going to sell, should they buy? It’s not going to be a big buy if they do, let’s just get that out of the way first. With the Cubs resurgence it would be moronic to go all out at this point on any player, well maybe not Yu Darvish but the Pirates are on his no-trade list. There is one very obvious thing Huntington needs to improve in order to make it look like this team could stay in the hunt — adding to their pitiful bench.

Last season, the Pirates had one of the best benches in baseball, at the very least the most productive. The combination of Sean Rodriguez, David Freese, Matt Joyce and eventually Adam Frazier always seemed to come up big when asked to fill in the lineup or come up big in a clutch pinch hitting situation. This season thanks to suspensions and crazy drunk drivers not being allowed in America, the Pirates’ bench has looked more like the island of misfit toys than an actual major league bench. With Freese and Frazier pushed into the regular lineup, the club was forced to call up multiple rookies from Indianapolis for their first taste of the majors. And though guys like Jose Osuna, Elias Diaz and Gift Ngoepe have showed promise, it can not be said for the rest of the bench. Alen Hanson, Max Moroff and Phil Gosselin hit under .200 in their stints with the Pirates. Hanson is a Chicago White Sox now and is finally hitting above the Mendoza line (.237).  Outside of his walkoff hit and home run a few weeks back, Max Moroff has done relatively nothing in his short big league career. Gosselin isn’t a rookie by any stretch but he plays like someone who is. Plus, John Jaso hasn’t had a hit since the day after Independence Day. Putting all this in perspective, there is even a bigger reason why Huntington has to get someone: the health of Gregory Polanco.

Polanco went down with a hamstring injury during Friday night’s win at Coors Field over the Colorado Rockies. The Dominican outfielder had played better as of late before the injury, but was still showing sluggishness at times, especially in the outfield in the previous day’s game vs the Brewers. During the 4th inning, Brett Phillips hit a double in the right field corner that Polanco lazily chased after. Sitting on the foul sit of the right field foul pole, I, as a vocal fan, voiced my disapproval of the effort, even going as far as saying my 81 year old oxygen-using grandmother moved faster than the right fielder. Not saying he heard me or got the message, but in his next at-bat in the bottom half of the inning, Polanco smashed his 9th home run of the year. Guess he just needed some motivation. Getting back on track, with his health in check, Huntington needs to add another corner outfielder that would at least serve as a great bench piece once he returns.

Now, there are a lot of different guys the Pirates could go after. Melky Cabrera has been a name thrown out there, but the White Sox would have to pick up some of the contract. He can play both corner spots, which could give them flexibility if McCutchen needs a day off down the stretch. Another guy is Jay Bruce. The former Cincinnati Red now New York Met is hitting .262 with 26 home runs and 70 RBIs. The hit for Bruce would only be about $4 million for a 2 month rental, but you would think the Mets would want a little more for him than what they got for Lucas Duda from Tampa Bay. One team the Pirates may be able to strike an affordable deal with is the Miami Marlins. Rumors are swirling that the Marlins want to sell off Christian Yelich and Marcell Ozuna to add to their depleted farm system. Though those guys are probably out of their price range, one guy Huntington could grab from Miami is Ichiro. Yes, I know he is 43 and the Marlins would be crazy to part with him since he is still a draw for fans, but with Huntington’s dealings with their front office before, he could be able to entice them to part with the Japanese superstar. And believe it or not, Ichiro has hit pretty well over the past two months, hitting .273 in June and .348 in July and would put a hot bat on a bench that definitely needs one. Though I would hope the Pirates add a power bat as well, adding a guy like Ichiro would help the team immediately.

It’s entirely possible that the Pirates just stand pat and neither buy nor sell, too.

The post The Pirates Need To Add To Their Pitiful Bench At The Deadline appeared first on The Point of Pittsburgh.

During the late 1980’s and early 1990’s, you probably noticed (or didn’t) Hollywood releasing a lot of baseball related movies into theaters. Kevin Costner initially cornered the market with Bull Durham and Field of Dreams, two classics in the genre. Then you had Eight Men Out, which told the story of the 1919 Chicago White Sox and their infamous Black Sox scandal. A League of Their Own finally gave women a feature in the genre, and maybe one of the best lines in any baseball movie by Tom Hanks. There’s no crying in baseball!

But the coup de grâce of this period and possibly the greatest baseball movie of all-time, the 1989 comedy Major League, captured all the wackiness of a major league baseball team. With Charlie Sheen and Wesley Snipes amongst the cast of characters suiting up for this fictionalized interpretation of the Cleveland Indians, viewers witnessed a ragtag roster find a way to overcome the enormous odds in front of them, which was mainly caused by the shrewd business practices of their owner. Hmm, where have I heard this story before? Obviously I’m comparing Pirates owner Bob Nutting to the fictionalized owner of the Indians’ Rachel Phelps. And though it is easy to point out the similarities between these two owners for the last five years (which I will do in a second), the Pirates performance in July has some in this town comparing the group to those outmanned Indians.

What stands out most in the similarities between Major League and these Pirates goes back to the offseason prior to this season. In the movie, Phelps cuts her entire team and fills out the Indians roster with washed up and cheap players in order to move her franchise to Miami to get out of their run down stadium. An ex con, a voodoo priest and a guy who ran like Mays and hit like…, well you know, filled out a roster that was designed to fail from the start. But somehow someway, the roster that was supposed to be the worst in baseball was able to win their division after a classic game vs the New York Yankees.

Unlike that group, the nucleus of the Pirates roster has been in place for some time now. Guys like Andrew McCutchen and Josh Harrison have been in place for years. Looking from the outside, you would expect this team to compete for a division league if they add a significant piece or two. But the shrewdness of Nutting, like Phelps with making her team as bad as possible, the Pirates owner remains dedicated to his lack of spending on his team. The man chose to put a limit on the amount Neal Huntington could spend on this team. You wanna know why the Pirates have had to use so many rookies this season? Well yeah, this is due in most parts to the suspension of Starling Marte and Jung-ho Kang not being allowed in the country. But before and after this all happened, the front office could not add any depth on their bench due to his restrictions on spending. Not to beat a dead horse for the hundredth millionth time on the subject, but what the hell kind of business man does not effort in a business to make it a continuing success on the field? Well, like Phelps, results don’t matter, profits do.

The funny thing with both owners, though I am just speculating with Phelps, is they seem to have a significant amount of cash flow to invest into their team if they want to. And technically, both inherited their wealth. Phelps was a former Las Vegas showgirl who became owner of the Indians following the death of her husband Donald (I always imagined their relationship to be like Anna Nicole Smith and the really old guy she married). Nutting didn’t have to marry into his money, he was born into it. Thanks to his great-grandfather H.C. Ogden, Bob eventually took over the family business of Ogden Newspapers, which operates a multitude of newspapers around the country. As we know, he expanded his enterprise to include ski resorts and obviously the Pirates after he bought the team from Kevin McClatchy in 2007.  In his decade as owner, the players, at least publicly, have not spoken their feelings about how Nutting runs his team. The Indians, as we know, rebelled against Phelps by mid-season. They culminated their frustration in Phelps with a cardboard cutout made up of individual pieces that eventually exposed her nude body after the team clinched their game with Yankees. Though I’m not calling for the Pirates to do the same (sorry for giving you the imagine of a nude cutoff of Nutting), if the Pirates haven’t privately rebelled against their owner at this point, it needs to happen now.

Obviously, the one who should lead the rebellion is McCutchen. All Cutch wants to do is remain a Pirate the rest of his career, something Nutting should support since he is the face of the franchise. He tried to have Cutch traded in the offseason. The interest fell through and McCutchen is still here, but there were rumors swirling even last week that the Pirates could still deal the former NL MVP. Though it is now reported that the team will not trade either Cutch or Harrison, the fact that an owner would consider trading a man who has been the cornerstone of your franchise only weeks after having his first child is downright deplorable. I understand it’s only business, but a company wouldn’t move an employee halfway across the country right away after he or she had a child, at least not in principal. You know this is still in the back of Cutch’s mind, and with everything that he has gone through already in the past year, I would be most insulted by this. Cutch needs to start a silent protest against Nutting, nothing bad, just essentially ignoring him when he crosses their path. Obviously this isn’t the best approach with the guy who writes your checks, but a message needs to be sent to this guy even if it’s subtle. Maybe it would work, who knows. But overall the chances the Pirates season ends in the same fashion the Indians did is slim, but if they want to finally get some help, they need to finally take a stand with Nutting.

The post Are These Pirates The Real Life ‘Major League’? appeared first on The Point of Pittsburgh.

“You! In Section 127! Why were you booing me?”
Photo from Getty Images

On Tuesday night, Starling Marte will play his first game in a Pirates uniform since his steroid suspension in April. Since losing their Gold Glove outfielder, the club has been able to tread water in National League Central despite being four games under .500. The general reaction of most will be to boo Marte when he steps to the plate for the first time since April 17th. While this country allows you to voice your displeasure freely, let’s take a look at the situation as a whole.

When Marte was popped for a 50 game ban back in April, he tested positive for Nandrolone. As most of you know, Nandrolone isn’t a rogue ingredient in a supplement from GNC. This is probably about as old school as you can get in the steroid game. Hell, the Soviets were juicing with it when they were dominating everyone in the Olympics as early as the 1960’s.

How do you think the Steelers were able to maintain such level of dominance during the 1970’s? Yep, Nandrolone. Here’s a question: would you boo them? If Steve Courson were still alive, God rest his soul, would you jeer him if you saw him in public because he used steroids? Let’s say, heaven forbid for some yinzers morality, Joe Greene was on some illegal drug the Steelers’ doctor got from the Russians. It wouldn’t be to far fetch to imagine, as the Hall of Famer did play through numerous injuries during the team’s Super Bowl run. No Steeler fan would talk ill on the most lovable figure in team history even if he was juicing. So why the double standard? Oh yeah, Marte was caught red handed; no professional sports league tested for steroids in the 1970’s.

And that’s the only problem with Marte using steroids in my opinion. It’s not the fact that he did performing enhancing drugs, it is the fact that he failed a drug test and cost the Pirates 80 games. Sure he’s a drug cheat by definition, but hey, he tried to improve his production with a little help. I mean, who hasn’t cheated in something in their life. Please cast the first stone. The old saying goes,”If you ain’t cheating, you ain’t trying.” Obviously not the most moral look on life, but the morality in sports died a long time ago when it became a billion dollar industry.

Let’s be honest, PEDs make the game better. I really don’t care if an athlete gets busted for PEDs. What are they trying to do, enhance their performance right? So at the same time isn’t the athlete in the right for trying to be the best they can be for the fans? Some people might bring up the fact these guys are looked up to by kids and steroid use obviously doesn’t send a great message. Just remember, no one told these guys they had to be role models when they became a professional ballplayer. Some try to walk that straight arrow, which is a noble endeavor, but they are not required to be an example to kids. Athletes should come with a disclaimer: will do amazing things, eventually will disappoint.

Marte has done just that in his short Pirates career: amaze and disappoint. For this team to try and keep pace in this division, they will need their Dominican outfielder back to his old self in as short as time as possible. One respected columnist the city last week suggested the Pirates should trade their All-Star with his value still being high. While most of the column turned into a borderline racist anthology about all Latin ballplayers being dirt poor before they are signed by a major league club, he did bring up a fair point. Marte would bring back some quality pieces, possibly even more than Andrew McCutchen despite his recent tear. And who wouldn’t want him at the price? An average of $10.5 million for 4 years is a steal for a player the caliber of Marte. Even with the occasional lackadaisical play he shows at times, every team would want to take a shot at him. But Neal Huntington isn’t going to do that and rightfully so.

If the Pirates want to make any kind of run towards a division crown over the next couple years, they will need Marte in the lineup to do that. And it is not just because of his bat and glove, he is the only one who can seemingly get the most out of Gregory Polanco. For some reason these two have a symbiotic relationship and they will need that down the stretch of the season, especially if McCutchen goes away in a trade. Granted, Marte could struggle and continue to swing at pitches ten feet out of the zone, something that can’t be fixed by steroids.

Don’t be afraid to cheer Marte when he returns. You can boo because he missed 80 games, you have earned that right, but don’t hit him for the steroids. If you wouldn’t hit any of the Steelers of the 70’s for it, don’t you dare do it to Marte. If you want the Pirates to somehow go on a run and win the division, getting behind your Gold Glove outfielder from the start might allow him to get off a fast start in his return. They are only back seven games and with four against the first place Brewers this week they can split the difference. Winning the division this season may only be a fantasy to most Pirates fans, but with playing more than half of their games against divisional opponents the rest of the season they will have all the opportunities in the world to take the NL Central. Every step of the way, they will need Marte to be at his All-Star level of last season. Just remember, don’t be a hypocrite this week Pirates fans. Know your history.

The post Remember Pittsburgh’s Steroid History When You Boo Starling Marte appeared first on The Point of Pittsburgh.

Josh Harrison has been resurgent in 2017, after two straight down campaigns.
Photo by Haley Nelson/Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

When the Pirates used to really suck (I realize they suck now too), every July would end with a fire sale. Each year numerous players would be shipped off to contenders in exchange for low-level prospects and borderline major leaguers.  A majority of the guys they received in these trades never panned out and were released by the organization. But there was one deal in July 2009 that, at the time, looked like just another dump trade. Neal Huntington sent pitchers Tom Gorzelanny and John Grabow for Chicago Cub pitchers Jose Ascanio and Kevin Hart (not the comedian, but his 6.92 ERA with the Pirates in the rest of that season was pretty funny). The Pirates also acquired a little known infielder who was selected by the Cubs in the 2008 MLB Draft out of the University of Cincinnati. That little known infielder was Josh Harrison.

Fast forward to 2017, Harrison is days away from representing the Pirates in his second All-Star game appearance. This is a hell of an accomplishment, not just because J-Hay has been portrayed as an underdog for much of his career. A majority of the minor leaguers the team have acquired via trade, especially over the last 25 years, have either been wash outs in the minors or duds once they were called up to the majors (I would be here awhile if I started to rattle off some names). Of the minor leaguers who had yet to make their Major League debut who were traded to the Pirates, Harrison is the only one to ever make it to multiple All-Star games with the club. In fact, only two other players in the same category over the last 25 years have even made one All-Star. Those were Jack Wilson in 2004 and Jeff Locke in 2011, who both were never the same after their lone appearance in the mid-summer classic.

When Harrison debuted with the Pirates midway thru the 2011 season, no one expected this little infielder to be an immediate impact player with the team. In reality, the only reason he was called up in the first was to replace an injured Pedro Alvarez at third base. Despite the doubt, it didn’t take long before J-Hay became a spark plug in Clint Hurdle’s lineup, finishing the season with a .272 batting average in 65 games. Harrison had become a fan favorite amongst Pirate fans, but the 2012 and 2013 seasons would test the loyalty of his new found fandom. Only playing in 164 games over those seasons including only 60 games in 2013, he failed to hit over .250 and only drove in 30 runs over that span. If it wasn’t for his versatility, the Pirates could have considered moving on from the super utility player. Then 2014’s campaign happened.

Not only was 2014 a career year for Harrison, it was his coming out party on the national baseball scene. And this had nothing to do with his bat or even his glove, but his base running. On multiple occasions during the 2014 season, J-Hay was able to mystify fans with his ability to stay alive during a rundown. As you know, the success rate for a player caught in a rundown is pretty low, with their only real saving grace being a mistake by one of the opposing players. But for Harrison, he was able to prove the impossible was possible and was able to stun both Mets and Rockies players with his almost wizard like ability avoiding their efforts to tag him.

Even when he isn’t in a rundown, J-Hay can still bust out his moves when needed, like this play he made against the Washington Nationals earlier this season.

Josh Harrison has the Best Base Running moves EverMakes the defense look silly on this play. pic.twitter.com/30niCEQKCh

— Mean Mug Sports (@MeanMugSports) May 17, 2017

Many fans (and Kevin) criticized Huntington for inking Harrison to a four year contract following his breakout 2014 season. And prior to this season, those folks had a legitimate argument to make. He had failed to hit over .290 after hitting .315 in 2014 and failed to even equal his home run total from that season (14) in 2015 and 2016 combined (8). Also, his WAR in 2014, a ridiculous 5.0 after a previous high of 0.8 in 2011, never reached 2.0 in the two seasons following the new contract (1.3 in 2015, 1.5 in 2016). Some thought he was never meant to be an everyday starter especially during his first few months after replacing Neil Walker at second base. They are singing a different tune in 2017.

Right now Harrison ranks second National League second basemen in WAR with 2.3. He and the Nationals Daniel Murphy (who will start the All-Star Game) are the only second baseman in the league who have a WAR above 2.0. The next closest in terms of WAR in the National League is a full one point behind J-Hay with the Miami Marlins Dee Gordon coming in at 1.3. And its not just WAR where Harrison ranks among the best at this position. He is third in the national league in home runs (9), slugging percentage (.429) and on-base percentage (.358). Harrison is on pace to set a career-high in OBP thanks to getting hit by major league high 19 pitches. Not only that, he is 2 walks away from setting a career-high when he previously walked 22 times in 2014. Harrison seems to have taken a more patient approach to hitting this season after being known for jumping on the first pitch he sees. Though he still jumps on pitches from time to time, the patience is paying off.

Honestly, I love watching J-Hay play the game of baseball. The guy plays the game with so much energy that can be contagious not only to his teammates, but to the fans at PNC Park. He’s just out there having fun and pretending he is still 12 years old playing on a little league diamond. And that is what some players forget about, not just in baseball, but across all professional sports. They are more worried about their next big contract or endorsement deal to remember to have fun in a sport they have been playing their whole lives. As long as J-Hay continues to play with the same heart and hustle he has played with since debuting the Pirates, he will be a fan favorite even when his days in Pittsburgh are numbered and he moves on to another team. Let’s hope that day never happens.

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It has been quite the journey for Jameson Taillon is his professional baseball career. After being selected by the Pirates No. 2 overall in the 2010 MLB draft,  the high school pitcher from Texas by way of Canada quickly rose through the system, reaching AAA Indianapolis by 2013. Though it seemed he would be on his way to the majors by mid-2014, that was not in the cards. Instead, Taillon would have Tommy John surgery on his throwing arm in April 2014, effectively ending his season before it even began. As he tried to rehab following the surgery in preparation for the 2015, Taillon was sidelined again, this time with a sports hernia that was so severe it would cost him the entire 2015 campaign.

After nearly a two year delay, Taillon finally debuted for the Pirates on June 8, 2016, going almost pitch for pitch with the New York Mets’ Noah Syndergaard. The Canadian-American pitcher was the shot in the arm the Pirates rotation desperately needed. He brought stability in his 18 starts during his rookie campaign, and though he finished the season a modest 5-4, he only gave up more than four runs in a start once at Milwaukee in late August. Taillon posted a 3.38 ERA, the best mark of the team among guys who started at least 15 games. Coming into this season, it looked for certain that the right hander would take the next step in his development towards becoming the ace of the Pirates rotation. After posting a 2.08 ERA in April, fans were ecstatic about the success of their young pitcher. Then May happened.

During the Pirates’ road trip in Cincinnati, Taillon made the startling discover of a mass on one of his testicles. Though he had experienced occasional groin pain in the offseason, the 25 year old merely took it as possible minor re-aggravation of his sports hernia injury or he had just went too hard on leg day. After making the discovery on May 2, Taillon was scheduled to pitch the following night. That start against the Reds would be the worst in his professional career to date. He was shelled for six runs including two home runs in five innings. After the horrible start, he alerted Pirates head athletic trainer Todd Tomczyk about the lump. Team officials worked quickly to try and diagnose Taillon’s ailment, setting him up with ultrasounds at PNC Park and then Allegheny General Hospital. The results came back: Testicular cancer. Doctors scheduled surgery to remove the lump on May 8, the same day he was scheduled to make his next start against the Los Angeles Dodgers. After the surgery, Taillon posted a note on Twitter thanking everyone for their support.

pic.twitter.com/ZcwEXwfDNz

— Jameson Taillon (@JTaillon19) May 8, 2017

Though the cancerous lump was removed, the right hander will still need regular blood tests every three to six month in order to see if the cancer lingered in his system. Initially, it remained a mystery when he would be able to return the Pirates this season. Obviously, returning from a cancer scare is a bit different than returning from just some regular old upper or lower body injury. Colorado Rockies pitcher Chad Bettis was also diagnosed with testicular cancer in November. Unfortunately for him, the cancer spread, forcing the Rockies to put him on the 60 day disabled list. Unlike Bettis, Taillon’s cancer did not spread, meaning no chemotherapy would be required this time around, making a return this season possible. Nearly three weeks after his surgery, he was making his first of three rehab starts in the minors, allowing only one hit in three innings of work against the Erie Seawolves. And though he looked shaky in his final start in the minors against the Toledo Mudhens, by all accounts, Taillon was ready to be back on a major league mound.

Five weeks after the scare of his life, Taillon returned to the Pirates on June 12. His first start back was not against any cupcake team, rather one of the best offenses in the National League in the Rockies. In five innings of work that night, Taillon looked like he hadn’t skipped a beat, shutting down the potent Colorado lineup for only five hits and no runs. Simply incredible if you ask me. The Cubs were able to knock around him a bit in his next start, but against the defending World Series champs, this wasn’t much of surprise even though they have struggled so far this season. He would rebound against the Cardinals, giving up two runs in six innings while striking out a season-high seven batters.

It is simply amazing that a pitcher who was not sure of his future less than two months ago is throwing this well. Just look at his last start Thursday night vs Tampa Bay when he was matched up with one of the best young pitchers in the American League in Chris Archer. Taillon has already gone toe-to-toe with the one of the best pitchers in the junior circuit when he faced Chris Sale in his first start at Fenway Park for the Boston Red Sox.  And like his start against the Red Sox, he found his way into a few jams over the first couple innings, However, the right hander was able to battle out of it, showing the calmness of a veteran. Though he wasn’t able to outduel Sale, he was able to beat out Archer, who picked up the loss in the 4-0 Pirates win.

In my opinion, the Taillon return from cancer should be one of the bigger stories throughout Major League Baseball this season. And though it has garnered its fair share of attention, it dwarfs in comparison to the coverage Aaron Judge and Cody Bellinger have received for their outrageous home run totals to start 2017. I get it, they are in the two biggest media markets in the country and everyone loves homers, but what Taillon is doing is simply inspiring. To be able to not only come back from a cancer scare, but to be able to pitch at the same high level he did before his diagnosis is incredible. Hopefully as we continue thru the dog days of summer and Taillon continues to pitch like the future ace he is turning into, this story gets the national coverage it deserves.

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