At Least It Wasn’t A Sweep
After a brief respite from losing on Friday night, the Pirates fell right back in to their old ways Saturday and Sunday, once again struggling to score runs and also struggling to make the most of some otherwise really nice – and fairly unexpected, at least in my opinion – quality starts.
In fact, over the last week, the Bucs’ starting rotation ERA of 2.52 is one of the five best in the majors.
The lack of offense continues to be the main issue plaguing the now fourth place Pirates, though. During their 1-12 stretch, they’ve been outscored 76-30 and are hitting just .176 as a team.
The one constant though, Ray, is baseball… and Andrew McCutchen.
McCutchen went 5-for-13 during the four game set in Miami, including his 400th double as a major leaguer.
The weekend didn’t go quite as well for rookie Nick Gonzales, though. Making his major league debut on Friday, he went 0-for-8 in the series, including a walk and a run scored.
With Monday off, the Pirates will enter Tuesday’s action against the San Diego Padres at least five games back in the NL Central and at least eight back in the Wild Card race(s).
Mr. & Mrs. Pickett
If you’re a Steelers fan and spent more than 30 seconds on Instagram this weekend, there’s a very good chance you saw some highlights of the Pickett wedding.
I was never a fan of wedding singers over DJs at weddings, but this guy’s no slouch.
Undoubtedly, with a very pregnant wife of his own at home, I’m sure our Andrew Fillipponi had to respectfully decline the invitation to be Pickett’s best man.
Treated Like A Dog, You Know That’s Unheard Of
While he may not have the time to ensure his former Arena league team actually gets it’s paychecks, Antonio Brown did have time to go on Tyreek Hill’s podcast to discuss why he ended up leaving the Tampa Bay Buccaneers game against the New York Jets the way he did nearly 18 months ago.
What a surprise. In AB’s mind, it’s about money and disrespect, specifically from Bruce Arians and Tom Brady.
Dubas Misdirection?
With days to go until Wednesday’s NHL Draft and free agency opening Saturday at noon, Penguins President of Hockey Operations Kyle Dubas briefed the media late last week on his plans for what will be the biggest week of the NHL offseason.
The most intriguing part of the availability, at least in my opinion, was Dubas essentially squashing any ideas of using buyouts to get out from under a bad contract or two this summer.
“I’m not a big buyout fan. … I think there are more creative ways and better ways, especially in this environment, where you have contracts you view as problematic, you’re not getting good value, you can move them on,” said Dubas.
“I think with regards to buyouts, I’ve always believed that we try to find a more creative solution, and it’s a last resort. And I don’t feel we’re at that point right now.”
If you’re like me, you read that sentence and are now having the same nightmare about Mikael Granlund returning in a Penguins’ sweater here this fall.
For Pete’s Sake
It looks as though family ties did not win out, with Central Catholic’s Peter Gonzalez, a three-star receiving recruit and son of former Pitt QB Pete Gonzalez, is headed to Happy Valley.
Gonzalez is ranked as the No. 127 wideout in the country and the 29th-best player in his home state, according to the 247Sports.
Holding It Together
WVU announced Saturday night that longtime Bob Huggins assistant Josh Eilert will be taking over the team on an interim basis, and that the university’s extensive “national search” will have to wait until the conclusion of the 2023-24 season.
While I’d suggested going with Ron Everhart, this plan sounds just like what I’d suggested a week ago following Huggins’ resignation. And the door remains open to follow that plan: Allow your interim coach to retain most of the talent he was already instrumental to attracting via the portal, and come next spring, throw the door wide open again if you’re not happy to all the big names who may come available.
The “retain the talent” part is already working, too.