I have given up on going to Pirates’ games this year. I made my second trip of the year to PNC Park last Saturday and sure enough there was another two hour rain delay. That makes me two for two on two hour rain delays this season. At least the Buccos won both games. The Pirates had a pretty good weekend winning the last two games of their series with the Cardinals. Still, the Pirates will have to get red hot and have a lot of help if they are going to challenge for the NL Central.
• I thought it was pretty neat having the Pirates and Cardinals play at Williamsport, home of the Little League World Series. Both teams seemed to enjoy being there and being around the kids. Kudos to Major League Baseball for showcasing their sport this way.
• It’s been a brutal year for Gregory Polanco, who wasn’t even in the lineup when the Pirates gave out his El Coffee bobblehead over the weekend. Polanco is on the disabled list for the third time this season, a year where he was expected to really bust out and produce like the Pirates paid him to do when they signed him to a big multi-year deal. Polanco has only hit ten home runs during this injury riddled season, and only has forty-eight homers as a Pirate since making the big leagues in 2014. That isn’t cutting it. Given his body type and the fact that he plays in lefty-friendly PNC Park, Polanco should never hit less than twenty-five to thirty homers a season. I don’t expect much from the Pirates’ right fielder for the rest of the season, if and when he returns to the team. He better be healthy and productive in 2018. Otherwise, it’s fair to say that Polanco is a big-time bust. I hope that’s not the case.
• What was Pirates’ GM Neal Huntington thinking when he gave up a prospect to acquire forty year old Joaquin Benoit? Simply put, the former Phillies’ reliever has been brutal. Benoit blew another save in the opener against the Cardinals. Entering the weekend Benoit he had recorded just sixteen outs in his six appearances, while giving up ten hits and nine runs. He had also walked two batters and hit one batter. So much for improving your bullpen to help you win now.
• I don’t make too much out of NFL exhibition games. The Steelers beat the Falcons on Sunday but I doubt Mike Tomlin and his coaching staff are thrilled with the win. Matt Ryan carved up the Steelers’ defense in the early going. He looked like Tom Brady in last year’s AFC Championship Game. On the positive side, the Steelers wanted to get a good long look at running back James Conner. The ex Pitt star didn’t disappoint with nearly one hundred yards rushing. His performance was the highlight of the day.
• Steelers’ running back Le’Veon Bell remains absent from the Steelers. Why, I don’t know. He’s not going to get any more money by holding out. And whether he realizes it or not, he’s hurting himself and the Steelers. Post-Gazette reporter Ed Bouchette, who went to IUP, reported that Bell actually turned down a five year contract that his agent had agreed to. If Bouchette reported it you can bet it’s the truth and not fake news. Bell is clearly betting on himself to produce the next two years when the Steelers can franchise him. Still, given his injury history and fact that running backs don’t last long in the NFL, I don’t get it.
• Sammy Coates has missed a lot of time with injuries since joining the Steelers three years ago. He’s missed most of training camp, but is now back practicing. I still believe Coates is part of the Steelers’ plans, despite the injuries and talent the team has at wide receiver. I don’t believe he will be traded or cut, he’s too good. Now it’s up to Coates to show that he is for real. If he does, look out.
• There was word last week from a national NFL reporter that the Steelers were interested in trading for Rams’ cornerback Trumaine Johnson. I laughed, and then when I read that his salary is seventeen million dollars, I howled. There’s no way the Steelers take on that kind of salary. Plus, after getting burned in trades for defensive backs the past two years, I’m guessing Kevin Colbert will be very reluctant to make a deal for another DB anytime soon.
• Penn State was 2-2 after last September and speculation was running rampant that coach James Franklin might not last much longer. The Lions went on to win nine straight and made it to the Rose Bowl and everything changed. Franklin now has a six year contract that will pay him close to six million dollars a season. Talk about turning it around. Franklin and his staff can flat-out recruit, and are assembling one of the top classes for 2018. They have already brought in tremendous talent since arriving in Happy Valley, and that talent is producing on the field. There is also renewed interest in the program again. Penn State sold out its allotment of season tickets, and it’s possible that 107 thousand fans will actually be on hand for most games again. As a Penn State diehard I love it.
