First Call: Steelers have interest in former Pro Bowl pass rusher; Kevin Dotson tries first pitch at PNC Park

Monday’s “First Call” gives us reason to think that the Steelers may bolster their pass rushing depth. Kevin Dotson’s pitching mechanics need work. The hype surrounding Tom Brady’s return to New England is building already. And the Pirates actually have reason to believe that they are much better than their upcoming opponent.

Help wanted

At “Breakfast With Benz,” we’ve frequently mentioned that the Steelers’ lack of defensive edge depth is alarming.

It appears they are trying to address that need.

According to CBSSports.com’s Jason La Canfora, after failing to line up a match with Justin Houston, the Steelers are going to bring in former Los Angeles Chargers pass rusher Melvin Ingram III for a visit.

Steelers remain on the hunt for pass rush help. Had interest in Juston Houston but that does not appear to be a match. Will bring in Melvin Ingram for a visit this week and possibly others.

— Jason La Canfora (@JasonLaCanfora) July 18, 2021

In his nine NFL seasons, Ingram has 49 sacks and 360 total tackles. A knee injury limited him to just seven games played in L.A. last year. He didn’t record a sack and had just 10 tackles. But he does have three Pro Bowls on his resume.

T.J. Watt is a star at outside linebacker for the Steelers. But after him, the other starter at that position is Alex Highsmith. This will be his first full year as a starter now that Bud Dupree has moved on to the Tennessee Titans.

Beyond those two, the next two players on the depth chart are journeyman Cassius Marsh and rookie Quincy Roche.

Stick with your day job?

Steelers guard Kevin Dotson threw out the ceremonial first pitch at PNC Park Sunday before the Pirates-Mets game.

His form on his run blocking is much better than his pitching delivery.

Steelers OG Kevin Dotson throws out the first pitch of today's Pirates game. pic.twitter.com/phWnCmKFFY

— Alex Kozora (@Alex_Kozora) July 18, 2021

But, hey, it got there. In the air, and on the fly.

Also, I blame the Pirate Parrot. Poor pitch framing. He didn’t even catch it clean! In fact, I’d tag the Parrot with a passed ball on that one, wouldn’t you?

Let’s see how this goes

New England Patriots defensive lineman Byron Cowart made some news on the “Patriots Way of Life Podcast” regarding Tom Brady’s Week 4 return to Gillette Stadium in a Tampa Bay Bucs uniform this upcoming season.

“He’s coming back, but he’s coming back as an opponent. So I’m going to treat it like any opponent,” Cowart said.

Well, that kinda goes without saying from a player point of view. But what about the organization itself? Cowart had an answer there, too.

“We ain’t welcoming him back. We just play him,” he said. “There ain’t going to be no (darn) ceremony for him or nothing like that.”

I’m not so sure about that. It’s entirely possible the Patriots could do some sort of pregame video reel for Brady before the anthem or the coin flip.

But, unlike baseball’s first at-bat for a returning player or a hockey montage during the first TV timeout, there isn’t necessarily a clean time for the franchise to do something unless it’s a formalized moment pregame.

And I’ll be really interested to see if Bill Belichick co-signs on that idea.

They are really that bad?

Are you talking about the Arizona Diamondbacks?

Then, yes, they are.

That’s who the Pirates play the next three games. They’ll be in Arizona for games Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday.

Granted, the Pirates are awful. At 36-57, the Buccos are last in the NL Central, 19 games behind the first-place Milwaukee Brewers.

But the DBacks are 27-68, 32.5 games in back of the San Francisco Giants in the NL West.

Here is Arizona’s resume.

• The Diamondbacks’ winning percentage is .284, the worst in Major League Baseball. The next closest team is the Baltimore Orioles at .326 (30-62). Arizona has the fewest wins in MLB (27) and the most losses (68).

• Their minus-154 run differential is by far the worst in MLB. Again, Baltimore is the closest at minus-136.

• The Diamondbacks only have 16 home wins. Only the Orioles have fewer with 13.

• Arizona has yielded a whopping 544 runs. The Orioles (515) are the only other team to allow more than 500.

Aside from that, the Diamondbacks have been great. If the Pirates don’t take at least two of three, they should be ashamed.