The Pittsburgh Pirates have laid the groundwork to compete with the Chicago Cubs. Hear me out. Pittsburgh has a good core of veteran players and a talented group of prospects who broke into the Majors last season; and the Pirates have even more young players set to help in 2017. That's not to say the Pirates can muscle their way past Chicago — well, they possibly could if the Cubs have a few injuries or drastically under-perform after winning the World Series. But, right now, a ... Read More
About Andrew Hodgson
Ranking Ben Roethlisberger’s backups
It's starting to seem like a yearly occurrence: Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger is injured. In only three of his 13 seasons has he has started all 16 games. With Roethlisberger ruled out this Sunday against the New England Patriots, 2016 is just another year where a Steelers backup quarterback has been needed. The team has seen multiple backups in that span, and Landry Jones is the current occupant of that position. Here's how Jones compares to some of Roethlisberger's ... Read More
Munchak could pull off his best work vs. Jets
It was a thought unimaginable a few years ago: the Pittsburgh Steelers have a good offensive line. Some of it has come from investing high draft picks and spending more money at the position, but another part is offensive line coach Mike Munchak's influence. When all five starters are healthy, of course. That hasn't been the case this season. With Chris Hubbard set to start at right tackle against the New York Jets on Sunday, it means every lineman (save for the injured Cody Wallace) ... Read More
Williams should still see large role with Bell back
Naturally, the Pittsburgh Steelers will want to utilize perhaps football's best running back, Le'Veon Bell, in his first game back from a three-game suspension due to missed drug tests. But Pittsburgh might not want to run him too far into the ground. Even if Bell doesn't have any rust to knock off after not playing in the regular season for almost a calendar year, the Steelers should still protect their franchise running back. Bell has already touched that ball 799 times in his three ... Read More
Steelers offense thrives even when Brown doesn’t
Antonio Brown is human after all. Well, at least last Sunday against the Cincinnati Bengals he was. He only had four catches for 39 yards. He let an easy catch bounce off his hands and fall to the dirt. No scores for the wide receiver. Still, Pittsburgh's offense did just fine. Running back DeAngelo Williams continues to make his case as one of general manager Kevin Colbert's best signings after he chugged along with 94 rushing yards on 32 carries. The NFL's oldest running back also ... Read More
Is the DeAngelo Williams signing Kevin Colbert’s best?
On March 10, 2015, the Carolina Panthers officially released running back DeAngelo Williams. He said he was told the Panthers didn’t plan on running the ball enough to justify keeping both him and Jonathan Stewart. Three days later, Williams signed with the Pittsburgh Steelers. A year-and-a-half later, the Steelers have to be grateful Carolina decided it didn’t have enough rushes for Williams. Prior to Williams signing in Pittsburgh, there was no one to back up starter Le’Veon Bell. ... Read More
Re-signing Nova could turn Pirates’ deadline into a win
Let's be frank here in regard to the Pirates' trade deadline deals — everyone had some level of disdain toward them. Whether it was sending mixed signals selling on closer Mark Melancon then buying on New York Yankees pitcher Ivan Nova, or the debacle that was the Francisco Liriano, Reese McGuire and Harold Ramirez for Drew Hutchison trade, it would be hard to find anyone completely on-board with what the Pirates did. But what a difference a month makes. As a preface, this isn't to say ... Read More
What are best-case results for each Pirates trade?
Neal Huntington, you might have finally outsmarted yourself. Let me start by saying Huntington has done his share of wonders as general manager for the Pittsburgh Pirates. Taking them from a perennial loser with a barren farm system and making them a contender year-in-and-year-out with a loaded system was no small task. He has pulled off some absolute steals, and he should not be pushed out the door after a down year of transactions – assuming his latest round doesn't work. But will they, ... Read More
Midseason Report Card: Pirates’ offense shines, pitching struggles
When Pedro Alvarez and Neil Walker — and their combined 43 home runs — departed last off-season, the Pittsburgh Pirates decided to make up for the lost power with a high on-base approach. Their replacements, John Jaso and Josh Harrison, fit that mold. Before the start of the 2016 season, Pittsburgh was also hoping Starling Marte would continue his surge to stardom, while Gregory Polanco was expected to break out and show why he was a former top prospect. David Freese was signed as a temporary ... Read More
Which prospects could help the Pirates out this year?
Chad Kuhl's first career at-bat Sunday probably won't be memorable. He struck out, as pitchers often do at the plate. But it wasn't a typical strikeout. The Pittsburgh Pirates rookie fouled off five pitches and took another two for balls before he failed to connect with the eighth pitch he saw. In doing so, Kuhl drove Los Angeles Dodgers' ace Clayton Kershaw's pitch count up to 37 on the night and 21 in the second inning. Kuhl then helped set the stage for fellow rookie Adam ... Read More