Pittsburgh Steelers minicamp is done. The 2021-22 Penguins season has long since ended. So it’s time for the Pirates to resume their rightful place.

Atop the heap of your fan complaints in our weekly “U mad, bro?” post.

That’s not to say the Steelers and Penguins escaped unscathed, though.

Do they ever?

After the Pirates swept the Los Angeles Dodgers and won a series against the Arizona Diamondbacks, I outlined a path for them to “stay hot” over the next two weeks.

It began with sweeping a two-game series with Detroit on Tuesday night and Wednesday afternoon. The Tigers entered PNC Park with the fewest road wins and the fewest runs in Major League Baseball, in fourth place of the American League Central, with a three-game losing streak.

Naturally, the Pirates lost both games.

That prompted this email from Harry about the Pirates attempt to “stay hot.”

“That organization hasn’t been above corpse temperature since I moved here in 1998. You wouldn’t try to warm your hands in parrot feathers.”

No, Harry. No, I wouldn’t. But that’s quite the image you paint.

No such concerns moving forward, though. Up next, the Pirates go to Atlanta for four games. The Braves have won seven in a row.

Then the Buccos visit St. Louis for four games. The Cardinals have beaten the Pirates five times in six tries this year, including once by the score of 18-4.

Staying hot probably won’t be an option.

“Special K” shares his two cents on the CBS Sports story I passed along about how Pirates reliever David Bednar is a top trade candidate.

Top trade candidate??? What a Pirate thing to do.

— Special K. (@the_legit_shag) June 3, 2022

The last time they traded away a good Major League player who grew up here (Neil Walker), all they got back in return from the New York Mets was Jon Neise. He posted a 4.91 ERA in 21 games.

So the bar to leap over on this one isn’t very high for Ben Cherington.

Now, to be fair to the Pirates, maybe their actions of giving new contracts to Bryan Reynolds and Ke’Bryan Hayes are indicative of a team that may want to hold on to Bednar, too. Let’s avoid scolding them for something they haven’t done yet.

Did I just write, “to be fair to the Pirates”? What is wrong with me? Who have I become?

Andy would like to comment on my stance that the Steelers are actually better prepared in 2022 to handle the loss of Stephon Tuitt than they were last year.

So true! He hasn’t played in years.

— andy fabian (@qaman13) June 3, 2022

Sure, it’s true Tuitt had his injury issues over the years. But, in 2020, he started 15 games, had 11 sacks, two forced fumbles, 10 tackles for loss and 25 quarterback hits. All career highs.

And that was just two years ago. When he was healthy, he was a force.

At least if Cameron Heyward, Tyson Alualu and Chris Wormley stay healthy, they have a chance to improve from last year’s leaky effort against the run.

Rookie DeMarvin Leal also has talent. Montravius Adams is on the roster from the start of the season. Carlos Davis and Isaiahh Loudermilk have a little more experience.

For their sake, maybe that’ll be better.

But then there is this, from Salvador:

Your last sentence says it all. They finished dead last VS the run, and they haven't fixed it. Healthy Alualu ain't the answer. And small LBs aren't either.

— Salvadore (@SalvadoreYoga) June 4, 2022

Look. I didn’t say they’d be fine without Tuitt. I just said they might stink less.

This guy has an idea to solve the Penguins’ salary cap problems and keep Sidney Crosby happy so that the franchise can retain Evgeni Malkin and Kris Letang.

“If Sid wants Malkin and Letang to stick around, then let the Pens restructure his contract to free up more money for those two.”

That’s a great idea. Except it’s not the NFL. The NHL doesn’t allow for that to happen under its collective bargaining agreement.

Also, Crosby’s cash layout for the last three seasons of his contract is only $3 million per year anyway — even though the cap hit is $8.7 million. So there wouldn’t be all that much to restructure.

Finally, let’s circle back to last week with Hank. He wants to chime in regarding Doug Whaley’s comments about Jack Ham.

Are you serious? Of course he’d be a back up today. He’s 73 years old!

— Hank (@ukhank1) June 1, 2022

That may be true, Hank. But, based on the depth chart, with guys like Crosby, Malkin, Jeff Carter and Brian Boyle, he’s plenty young to play forward for the Penguins.

Can Jack skate? I bet Jack can skate.

Selke Trophy finalist in his first year. Guarantee it!

Wait, one more. I happened to see this on Twitter.

I ordered a salad in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and this is what I got pic.twitter.com/38Hjpazijk

— audrey (@audreyschreiber) June 7, 2022

This woman seems OK with her order. But … I dunno. I think they went a little heavy on the veggies, don’t you?

I mean, who orders a salad for … you know … vegetables?

---

Copyright ©2025— Trib Total Media, LLC (TribLIVE.com)

---