On Sports: Paul Skenes is so compelling he actually obliges MLB Network to — gasp — do a game in Pittsburgh

Particularly with the Steelers and Penguins on runs approaching a decade each of not winning a playoff round, Pittsburgh sports fans are suffering from quite the inferiority complex lately.

Leave it to the Pirates to elicit a backhanded, subtle dig from a national baseball outlet this week.

Ron Darling and Matt Vasgersian were heaping praise on superstar young Pirates starter Paul Skenes during a “Hot Stove” segment that ran Monday. Darling, a former All-Star and World Series champion starting pitcher himself, even predicted Skenes would win the National League’s Cy Young award in 2025.

“I was lucky enough to play with Dwight Gooden,” said Darling, referencing their nine seasons as teammates with the New York Mets, “and (Gooden) had a breakout rookie season — one of the best in the history of the game — and he followed it up his second year with a Cy Young. I don’t feel any different about this young man (Skenes). It seems natural that he will turn in a (second MLB) season for the ages.”

Ron Darling on Paul Skenes:

"I was lucky enough to play with Dwight Gooden, he had a breakout rookie season and followed it up his second year with a Cy Young...I don't feel any differently about this young man." pic.twitter.com/2n1OtL1y83

— MLB Network (@MLBNetwork) February 17, 2025

The comparison between the right-handers is valid. Gooden was 19 when in 1984 he went 17-9 with a 2.60 ERA and a league-leading 276 strikeouts in 218 innings as a rookie. Skenes — shackled by modern load management doctrine –went 11-3 with a 1.96 ERA and 170 strikeouts in 133 innings as a 22-year-old rookie for the Pirates last season.

Gooden won the 1985 NL Cy Young with a ridiculous stat line that saw him lead the league in wins (24), complete games (16), ERA (1.53) and strikeouts (268). Skenes is the heavy preseason betting favorite to win the Cy Young for the NL in 2025.

“This is a high-end, All-Star pitcher,” Darling gushed on Skenes. “You see what it looks like coming out of his hand — it’s like, ‘My God, nobody has a chance.’”

So where the barrage of compliments turned on the Pirates was when Darling chose to drop the proverbial hammer to explain just how compelling Skenes was.

Skenes is so worthy of attention that Darling actually would go all the way to truly desperate lengths to see Skenes pitch:

He’d volunteer to watch a Pirates game.

“I’ll tell you how important Paul Skenes is,” Darling, a veteran national TV color analyst, said to Vasgersian. “I haven’t been to Pittsburgh in a long time, and I get my schedule — where I am going to (broadcast) games — and the schedule gets sent out and (someone asks), ‘Would you like to do Pittsburgh?’

“Like, ‘Absolutely!’”

Vasgersian literally laughed out loud at the notion. Do a game in … Pittsburgh?!

Another RB?

We are inside of 10 weeks until the NFL draft. So why not repeatedly update whom the national draftniks project the Steelers selecting?

Especially so when the projection comes from a well-known draft personality, the player mocked to the Steelers is a high-profile name — and he plays a position certain to make some fans’ blood boil that the Steelers would take one such from in the first round?

Daniel Jeremiah’s “2.0” mock draft for NFL.com has the Steelers ending up with Boise State’s Ashton Jeanty.

That’s running back Ashton Jeanty, a position many around the sport — rightly or wrongly — will tell you is a waste of a premium draft pick. For the Steelers, taking a running back might especially draw ridicule because they did so just four years ago. And that player (Najee Harris) has had production that has been … shall we say, uninspiring? So much so, in fact, the Steelers did not exercise their fifth-year option for 2025 on Harris, even for the reasonable cost of $6.8 million.

A decision that could lead them to taking a running back again in Round 1.

Then again, Jeanty is no average running back. Despite playing for a Group of 5 conference program, he finished a close second in Heisman Trophy balloting after having 2,601 rushing yards and 29 touchdowns for Boise.

"Dad, how good was Ashton Jeanty?" pic.twitter.com/AnSi1q9Dm5

— Football’s Greatest Moments (@FBGreatMoments) February 17, 2025

At 5-foot-9 and 215 pounds, Jeanty’s player comp on NFL.com is Hall of Famer LaDainian Tomlinson. Jeremiah notes that on his “big board” (not taking positional value into account), Jeanty is the No. 3 overall prospect.

Incidentally, also of note in Jeremiah’s most recent mock is that Penn State star edge defender Abdul Carter goes first overall to the Tennessee Titans. Nittany Lions tight end Tyler Warren was mocked at No. 7 to the New York Jets.

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Cash for DOC

Eighteen days, four games played and two goals after his trade from the Penguins, winger Drew O’Connor signed a two-year contract extension with the Vancouver Canucks.

General Manager Patrik Allvin announced today that the #Canucks have agreed to terms with forward Drew O’Connor on a two-year contract extension worth $2.5M AAV.

DETAILS | https://t.co/0VMPsQ0LoA pic.twitter.com/OEusLDxG6t

— Vancouver Canucks (@Canucks) February 18, 2025

O’Connor’s deal will pay him an average of $2.5 million per season, a significant raise from the $925,000 AAV he had been playing on over a two-year deal signed with the Penguins that was set to expire this summer.

O’Connor, 26, had 30 goals over 210 games spanning five seasons with the Penguins. He was considered the sidekick in the package the Penguins sent to Vancouver in a deal announced late in the evening Jan. 31. Vancouver also acquired defenseman Marcus Pettersson in exchange for a first-round pick, a prospect and a pair of veterans.

"That first week we spent here was awesome. City was great…It’s been a good fit so far hockey-wise.”

???? Drew O'Connor speaks to the media on signing a two-year contract extension with the #Canucks pic.twitter.com/Cjb8bK5P9X

— Vancouver Canucks (@Canucks) February 19, 2025

The Canucks’ president of hockey operations is former Penguins general manager Jim Rutherford. Vancouver’s GM is former Penguins assistant GM Patrik Allvin.

“Drew has really made a good first impression since joining our team from Pittsburgh at the beginning of the month,” Allvin said in a release. “We like his size, speed, and ability to get in on the forecheck and hound pucks. Our staff also feel confident that they can help Drew take his game to another level and we are excited to see what the future holds for him with the Vancouver Canucks.”