Lawman Has Put an End to the Padres
In what ended up being a wild bottom of the ninth inning in San Diego, David Bednar got his 20th save of the season by pitching around a pinch-hitting Juan Soto with one out and the bases loaded, inducing an infield pop-up from Taylor Kohlwey, and striking out Trent Grisham with the winning run just 180 feet away from the plate.
It was one of those imperfect-yet-ballsy saves that as GMs around the league salivating at the thought of acquiring Bednar for the back end of their bullpen and inviting reporters to talk about how the Pirates are “listening” to offers on the closer.
The same way your boss “listens” when you ask for a raise.
What was nice in the way of perhaps building Trade Deadline capital before Tuesday’s 4pm deadline was another home run from Carlos Santana.
And another homer from Ji Man Choi.
After a miserable start to the second half, Santana is now 7-for his last-20 (.350) with three doubles, three home runs, eight RBIs and an 1.359 OPS since Saturday.
Choi has hit in the last seven games he’s started, going 8-for his last-26 as a starter (.308) with four home runs, eight RBIs, and an 1.129 OPS as a starter since July 8.
I know it may not be much, especially when compared against their season stats, but I’d like to think GM Ben Cherington can get something for each of them.
Training Camp Report Day
Relatively uneventful by Steelers’ standards, there were no helicopters, no chauffeured Rolls Royces, no fire trucks, no tractors, and not even anybody named to the PUP (Physically Unable to Perform) List on reporting day at St. Vincent College in Latrobe.
In fact, the lone “highlights,” if you wanna call them that, were Cam Heyward ducking the media in order to get his Chipotle delivered via GrubHub, and long snapper Christian Kuntz and punter Pressly Harvin trying to figure out how to get a mammoth massage chair from the bed of a pickup truck to a third floor dorm room.
Steelers Top 5s – Games On the Schedule
As we continue the week of counting down Steelers Top 5s, today we arrive at the Top 5 games on the 2023 schedule:
5) Week 1 – Sunday, September 10 – vs. San Francisco 49ers
Everybody ready for a stiff test early? Whether it’s Brock Purdy, Sam Darnold, or Trey Lance – it appears Purdy is healthy and has the inside track to starting Week 1 – the Niners have plenty of weapons ready to test the Steelers’ new-look corners and inside linebackers. Their defense is arguably the best in the league and will most likely create the kind of issues that will have Steelers’ fans cursing Matt Canada, Kenny Pickett, and/or Najee Harris postgame. An 0-1 start isn’t preferable, but against this outfit, it’s also not going to be a huge surprise. It will set the Steelers up to have to win a division game and then two on the road in Weeks 2,3, and 4 if they want to get off to the 3-1 start that will probably be necessary to end up in the AFC Playoff conversation come December and January.
4) Week 4 – Sunday, October 1 – at Houston Texans
As mentioned above, we’ll know after this one if the Steelers are taking advantage of the relatively soft spot in their schedule between September 18 and October 1. If they leave Texas 3-1 or better, they’ll have built some capital and cushion in what will be an incredibly tight and competitive AFC race. If they’re 2-2 or worse, it’s going to be an uphill battle to get to 9 wins, let along the 10 that may be necessary to reach the Wild Card in a stacked conference.
3) Week 15 – Sat Dec 16 or Sun Dec 17 – at Indianapolis Colts
If the Pirates can take advantage of that early soft spot in the schedule, there’s a chance they could arrive at the second, later soft spot at 7-4 going into December. Home games against Arizona and New England are followed by a trip to Indianapolis where, if the Steelers have simply beaten every team on the schedule with a worse record than them in 2022, they’ll be 9-4 and in the thick of not only the Wild Card race, but quite possibly the AFC North Division title race, with a rookie quarterback likely waiting for them. What can’t happen is the Steelers arriving in Indianapolis at anything less than 7-6.
And leaving Indy at 7-7 or worse will put them in a win-out to get in spot down the stretch with the Bengals, Seahawks, and Ravens looming.
2) Week 17 – Sunday, December 31 – at Seattle Seahawks
Going out west always seemed to be a bugaboo for Ben Roethlisberger over the years, and Kenny Pickett will get three opportunities to play in the Pacific time zone in his first full year as a starter, with trips to Las Vegas, L.A. against the Rams, and Seattle.
Again, if we’re breaking the schedule down in to chunks, these three games have to finish 2-1 or better. And going in to Week 17, the Steelers will have to be at least 8-7, and more likely 9-6 or even 10-5 to have a legitimate shot at a playoff spot. A lot of where Seattle is and how competitive they are at this point is reliant on Geno Smith replicating his 2022 results, which is far from certain, but if he is, the Steelers’ mostly veteran defense better head to the Pacific Northwest healthy, or it could be a long New Year’s Eve.
1) Week 18 – Sat Jan 6 or Sun Jan 7 – at Baltimore Ravens
Does it get any bigger than this? Week 18, in Baltimore, with the possibility of a playoff berth on the line? Let’s face it, we just know that will be the case again when the Steelers travel south sitting somewhere around the 8-8 or 9-7 mark and the Ravens maybe a game or two better, similarly looking to lock up their playoff fate.