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  • Opinion: No Reason Why Ville Koivunen Shouldn’t Get Top Line Minutes For Remainder Of Season

    The Pittsburgh Penguins have made a flurry of roster moves over the last 24 hours. Early yesterday morning, the Penguins called up a trio of forwards, all on an “emergency” bases. Emil Bemström, Vasily Ponomarev, and Valtteri Puustinen have all joined the team as the Penguins look to close out their final handful of games…

  • I’m Still Fine With The Nick Yorke/Quinn Priester Trade

    Yesterday, former Pirates pitcher Quinn Priester was involved in a bit of a shocking trade. Priester, a former first round selection by the Pirates back in 2019, started this season in the Boston Red Sox organization. He made one start this year for Triple-A Worcester, where he threw four innings and allowed two earned runs…

  • Joey Wentz Providing Key Work Early For Pirates

    To say that the Pirates’ bullpen is a mess might be the understatement of the year. Just ten games and a week and a half into their season, their closer David Bednar is no longer on the roster. Having allowed three earned runs in as many appearances (but only recording three total outs), Bednar was…

  • Passion Goes Both Ways

    Opening Day is exciting, but when your teams starts the season on the road, it is definitely tempered down a little bit. Instead of having a shiny, untouched record and holding a grand ceremony in front of your own fans, you start the season at some other ballpark, watching some other team celebrate the start…

  • Play The Kids

    Mike Sullivan’s handling of young players has long been a controversial topic in this town. Now nearly a decade in on the job, Sullivan’s roster is not what it once was. Far from the days where Sullivan was behind the bench of Stanley Cup winning teams, where young guns like Jake Guentzel and Bryan Rust…

  • Pirates Taking A Worthy Swing With Alexander Canario

    Not a lot is going the Pittsburgh Pirates’ way to open the year.  They dropped three of four in their season opening series against the Marlins in Miami, and their efforts to rebound against Tampa Bay started off with a harsh 6-1 loss.  Their offense is atrocious to start, with the Pirates averaging a measly…

  • Winners And Losers From Pittsburgh’s Series In Miami

    I’m not going to lie to you my friends, that was some pretty bad baseball I watched this week. All the excitement and anticipation for a new baseball season took a brutal beating over the first four games of the year, with the Pirates dropping three of four games to one of the very few…

  • Is There A Pirates Lineup Graphic Curse?

    Today is the day. Baseball season is finally here, and before the first pitch of the 2025 season is thrown, I wanted to take a look back on a project that encompasses every game of the previous year. Before every Pittsburgh Pirates game, the team’s social media account on Twitter/X posts a graphic detailing their…

  • There’s More Opportunities From Triple-A To The Big Leagues Than You May Think

    With the Pirates just hours away from having to finalize their major league roster, many of the decisions and who will start the year on the major league roster for the Pirates are already known. Aside from the semi-shocking details like Endy Rodriguez, who in addition to being the backup catcher will also be the…

  • Piratical Reunion Tour Falls Flat In Pittsburgh In 1891

    The Pittsburgh Burghers are no more. A year after the revolutionary creation of the Players’ League in 1890, everyone was pretty much back to where they were. The PL had the talent, they had the fans, and they had one of their main competitors, the American Association, on the ropes. But the one thing they…

  • Ilya Kovalchuk is a Hall of Famer

    Last Friday, former NHL star Ilya Kovalchuk officially announced his retirement from pro hockey. It’s technically his third retirement announcement, but at 41 years old, it’s safe to trust him this time.  Having split his career between the National Hockey League and the Kontinental Hockey League in his native Russia, Kovalchuk is walking away after…

  • Who Is Javier Rivas? Meet Tuesday’s Spring Training Hero

    The Pittsburgh Pirates entered the ninth inning of Tuesday’s afternoon game against the Philadelphia Phillies down 2-0. At LECOM Park, the Pirates had one final chance to stage a comeback and win one of the final games of spring training. Nick Solak kicked things off with a single off Phillies righty Devin Sweet. DJ Stewart,…

  • The Penguins Prospect That No One Is Talking About

    (Featured photo from the Pittsburgh Penguins’ official Twitter/X account) For the first time in truly a generation, there are actual Penguins prospect to talk about. Prospects. Plural! And while the Penguins, under the guidance of general manager Kyle Dubas, are starting the lengthy and likely painful transition from one era to another, the Penguins are…

  • Losing Najee Harris Hurts, But It Is Manageable

    What was long speculated has finally come true: Najee Harris will not be a Pittsburgh Steeler in 2025. The organization’s first round pick from 2021 had the fifth year option in his rookie year declined by the Steelers last year, setting up a potential final season in Pittsburgh for the Alabama product. As the season…

  • Going Better/Worse On ZiPS Projections, Pirates Starters Edition

    Well, I looked at the projections for the batters, so I might as well do it for the pitchers. Last week, I looked at the ZiPS projections for Pirates batters and made my best prediction on whether they’d be over or under on some key statistics, like batting average and OPS. You can find the…

  • Pirates Make Nifty Waiver Claim With Justin Lawrence

    For one of the very few times this winter, the Pittsburgh Pirates have done something that was met with near universal praise. The Pirates have reportedly claimed right-handed reliever Justin Lawrence off waivers from the Colorado Rockies today, adding him to a crowded field of contenders for their bullpen jobs. Lawrence is coming off of…

  • Going Over/Under On ZiPS Projections, Batters Edition Part 2

    A few days ago, I started doing an over/under on the ZiPS projected stats for Pirates batters. In that list I covered seven names: Bryan Reynolds, Oneil Cruz, Spencer Horwitz, Jack Suwinski, Isiah Kiner-Falefa, Nick Yorke, and Billy Cook. Today, I’ll be doing the second half of the batters, deciding whether I think each player…

  • Going Over/Under On ZiPS Projections, Batters Edition Part 1

    Projections are such an interesting thing in any sport. But in baseball we pay far more attention to the preseason projections than in any other sport. The ZiPS projections are a popular outlet for preseason player projections, and as spring training heats up and we start to get a look at virtually every player in…

  • The History Of Ben Cherington’s Left-Handed Pitcher Signings

    (Featured photo by Raymond Carlin III-Imagn Images) Death, taxes, and Ben Cherington signing a left-handed pitcher in free agency. The Pirates general manager and Andrew Heaney have reportedly agreed on a one-year, $5 million deal, per Robert Murray. Heaney is coming off of a weird season with the Texas Rangers, where he went 5-14 with…

  • Does Mike Sullivan Still Have His Fastball?

    Mike Sullivan is the second longest-tenured coach in the National Hockey League. His story is well documented in Pittsburgh. After taking over for the fired Mike Johnston halfway through the 2015-16 season, Sullivan led the Penguins all the way to the franchise’s fourth Stanley Cup. A year later, he did it again, becoming the first…

  • The Pirates Should Take A Flyer On Craig Kimbrel. Here’s Why

    Pitchers and catchers for the Pittsburgh Pirates will report to Bradenton, Florida for spring training starting next week. After a disappointing season that saw the Pirates waste the dominance of NL Rookie of the Year Paul Skenes and finish the season 76-86, the Pirates and their fans are hoping this is finally the year where…

  • Immediate Thoughts And Reaction To The Marcus Pettersson Deal

    Wowza, that’s a big trade. In case you haven’t seen, let’s break down the deal between the Pittsburgh Penguins and Vancouver Canucks on what has been a very busy night in the NHL. To Vancouver: To Pittsburgh: The conditional pick that the Penguins’ acquired actually belongs to the New York Rangers, who completed a separate…

  • Four Under The Radar Pirates I Am Super Excited To Watch In 2025

    Spring training is getting pretty close. Pitchers and catchers for the Pirates report on February 12th, and it won’t be long until we are seeing both old and new faces playing in Grapefruit League games down in Florida. Here in Pittsburgh, it is a little hard to get as psyched as we should be about…

  • Here’s How I Would Handle The Trade Deadline For The Penguins

    The trade deadline has started rather early this season. Last night, hockey fans were treated to a true blockbuster deal, when the Colorado Avalanche sent Mikko Rantanen to the Carolina Hurricanes for a package that included Marty Necas and Jack Drury. But while the NHL’s trade deadline isn’t until March 8th, this season offers a…

  • 2025 Is A Make Or Break Year For Henry Davis

    Over Ben Cherington’s six-year run as general manager of the Pittsburgh Pirates, his club has picked first overall two times. His most recent one, Paul Skenes, was a home run pick. Skenes, the NL Rookie of the Year in 2024, has already established himself as one of the best pitchers in all of baseball, and…

  • Three Potential Solutions To The Tristan Jarry Situation

    Saying this year has not gone to plan would be quite the understatement for Tristan Jarry. From a season debut that saw him get lit up for six goals against the New York Rangers, to being sent to the American Hockey League on a conditioning stint, to having career lows across the board, to now…

  • The Philip Tomasino Trade Is Kyle Dubas’ Mantra At Its Finest

    Pittsburgh Penguins general manager Kyle Dubas has a pretty difficult job. Some of that is self-inflicted.  By trying to execute the “rebuild on the fly” technique as he presides over the team, Dubas is holding himself in a pattern that is often sought after, but rarely actually able to work — keep the team competitive…

  • How Lucky We Are: Five Thoughts On Steelers’ Wild Card Loss

    I’m breaking the rules one more time. Yes, this has the Five Thoughts name and yes that is technically a lie, but the only way I can figure out how to write my genuine, honest thoughts on this game is to kind of just ramble along. I changed up the format one other time during…

  • Saturday Will Be The Most Defining Moment Of George Pickens’ NFL Career

    It’s been a trying year for Steelers wide receiver George Pickens. Now in his third NFL season, the former second round pick by Pittsburgh had racked up 850 receiving yards through 12 games and was on pace to hit a new career high. Then, a surprise hamstring injury struck Pickens, sidelining him for three weeks…

  • Bungled: Five Thoughts On Steelers’ Week 18 Loss

    Ok, um. I’ll be honest, I don’t really know where to start. I don’t really know what to say. But, that’s sort of what I do around here, so, I guess I’ll have to figure it out. 1: On The Way To One-And-Done The Steelers played some of the most uninspired games of football I…

  • The Two Best Goaltenders In The Penguins Organization Don’t Play In Pittsburgh

    Goaltending has been a frequent topic of discussion surrounding the Pittsburgh Penguins. Ever since Matt Murray’s demise and subsequent trade in the 2020 offseason, the Penguins have suffered instability and poor play at the position. It has cost them on several playoff runs (think 2021 and 2022), and is one of their biggest weaknesses this…

  • The Brotherhood And The Burghers: The Story Of Pittsburgh’s Players’ League Team

    Baseball was in a tense place in the late 1880s. The older National League and the upstart American Association had been competing for eyes, money, and players ever since the latter was formed in 1882. Though the more established NL had the long-term upper hand, the AA remained a thorn in the side of the…

  • Is Jesse Puljujärvi Getting Screwed Over By The Penguins?

    Jesse Puljujärvi’s career is quite illustrious. From being a fourth overall pick in a highly energetic Canadian market, to getting banished to the south in Carolina, to a rocky journey in Pittsburgh, the latest step in Puljujärvi’s NHL journey is being placed on waivers by the Penguins. In 21 games for the Penguins this season,…

  • Steelers’ Return Game Has Been Season-Long Issue

    When the NFL announced the implementation of the new Dynamic Kickoff, the Steelers were one of the first teams to respond accordingly. Shortly after the rule change, which brought touchbacks to the 30-yard line and made any kick that landed in the new “landing zone” have to be returned, the Steelers signed Cordarrelle Patterson, one…

  • Nightmare On Rooney Avenue: Five Thoughts On Steelers’ Week 17 Loss

    A lot of people outed themselves as drug users when they picked the Pittsburgh Steelers to beat the Kansas City Chiefs. Whatever they were on, I need some desperately after whatever I just watched on Christmas Day. I’m only half kidding, because while I did not think the Steelers had high chances of winning this…

  • What Are Reasonable Expectations For Andrew McCutchen In 2025?

    What has been long expected is finally official: Andrew McCutchen is back. He and the Pirates have agreed to a one year deal worth $5 million. His extension with the Pirates is identical to the deal he signed when he first re-joined the Pirates in 2023, and the one re-upped with the team last year.…

  • Ravaged: Five Thoughts On Steelers’ Week 16 Loss

    We knew that this stretch of games towards the end of the season was going to be brutal. In particular, a three game run in Philadelphia, Baltimore, and then at home to face Kansas City was a cruel and unusual punishment for any NFL team to endure. The Steelers are 0-2 in that stretch so…

  • Bryan Rust Is The Penguins’ X-Factor

    After a very rough start to the season, the Pittsburgh Penguins have started to right the ship as the NHL season nears the halfway point. After starting the season 3-7-1 and still being a measly 9-12-4 at the end of November, the Penguins have dragged themselves from the basement of the league standings and now…

  • Penguins Reunite With P.O. Joseph

    In a reunion I don’t think anyone saw coming, the Penguins have re-acquired defenseman P.O. Joseph from the St. Louis Blues. Going back to the Gateway to the West is the well-traveled future considerations, which is sure to get any Blues fan up out of their seats. With Marcus Pettersson now on Injured Reserve, the…

  • Playing A Sicko-Style Game With The 2020 Pittsburgh Pirates

    You can’t find a fanbase that is more traumatized than that of the Pittsburgh Pirates. Years upon years of helpless losing, watching star after star leave, and squandering what little opportunities they had will do that to anyone. So when it was announced that the Pirates were bringing back a blast from the past and…

  • Eagle Eyes: Five Thoughts On Steelers’ Week 15 Loss

    Yesterday wasn’t the ideal start to the toughest three game stretch any NFL team will face this season. The Steelers haven’t won in Philadelphia since 1965, and that streak lives on as the Eagles disassembled Pittsburgh, 27-13. For the Steelers to win a game like this, they needed a defensive masterclass and to limit the…

  • Some Thoughts On The Spencer Horwitz Trade

    Last night, the Pirates gave us a shocker when they announced that the team had acquired Spencer Horwitz from the Cleveland Guardians. Horwitz, who was picked up by the Guardians just hours prior, spent last season with the Toronto Blue Jays. The deal, which involved three pitchers going back to the Guardians, saw the Pirates…

  • Elvis Alvarado Is A Low Risk, High Reward Signing

    Fans are getting restless. They are tired of the Pirates being all talk and no action. General manager Ben Cherington today said all the right things about improving the team and having higher expectations, but the team still sits with no real additions made. So understandably, there wasn’t an enthusiastic response when news broke that…

  • Why Roki Sasaki And The Pirates Are A Match Made In Heaven

    Alright, humor me for a few minutes. I know the likelihood of this is incredibly small. But if you can’t ever get excited about something like this why even live at all? So, allow me to tell you why Japanese star Roki Sasaki and the Pittsburgh Pirates are a match made in heaven. Sasaki is…

  • Slim Pickens: Five Thoughts On Steelers’ Week 14 Win

    The Cleveland Browns have not swept the Pittsburgh Steelers in a season since 1988. That streak will last at least one more year, as the Steelers enacted revenge from their Thursday night loss two weeks ago and beat the Browns 27-14. Now at 10-3, the Steelers will head into the NFL’s daunting four-game stretch to…

  • Replacing Aroldis Chapman Is Difficult, But Not Impossible

    On Tuesday, free agent reliever Aroldis Chapman and the Boston Red Sox agreed on a one year, $10.75 million dollar contract, ensuring that the former Pirate isn’t coming back to Pittsburgh in 2025.  His new deal with the Red Sox — his seventh major league team and fifth in the last four years — was…

  • Shootout: Five Thoughts On Steelers’ Week 13 Win

    Only the Pittsburgh Steelers could score 44 points in a game and still have their fans biting their nails in the final minutes. In a game that we definitely all saw coming, the Steelers won a complete shootout in Cincinnati with the Bengals, capping off the highest scoring NFL game this season, 44-38. It was…

  • A “Get Right” Game For Tristan Jarry

    I know, it looks lazy to have similar titles for the last two articles on this site. But allow me to explain. Wednesday night, I said that if, and a big emphasis on if, there was a chance for this Pittsburgh Penguins to claw back to relevancy this season, they needed to build on their…

  • If There Was Ever A “Get Right” Game For The Penguins, Thanksgiving Eve Was It

    Through injuries, subpar play, questionable coaching decisions, unreliable goaltending, and so many other things you could say, the Penguins entered their Thanksgiving Eve matchup with the Vancouver Canucks with only seven wins on the year. They’ve looked disastrous in almost every game they’ve played. They’ve showed no fight, no pushback, and no real way to…

  • Penguins Bring In Philip Tomasino In Change Of Scenery Deal

    It wasn’t the type of trade that perhaps a lot of Penguins fans have been hoping for, but the team has made a move. Earlier today, the team announced that they have acquired forward Philip Tomasino from the Nashville Predators in exchange for a 2027 fourth round pick. A lot has gone wrong in Nashville…

  • Two Truths And A Lie: Five Thoughts On Steelers’ Week 12 Loss

    Alright, let’s get the lie out of the way early. There will not be five thoughts in this edition. At least, not in the traditional, numbered format. There will be many thoughts, probably even more than five. But to be perfectly candid, it would drive me insane to have this be titled differently than every…

  • The Penguins Prospect I Am Most Excited About

    Even if very slowly, the youth wave is starting to form here in Pittsburgh. The opening night roster did not have a large youth presence; only Rutger McGroarty and Valtteri Puustinen really fit into that category to start the season. But as the season has dragged along, the Penguins have promoted several young players from…

  • The Wizard Of Boz: Five Thoughts On Steelers’ Week 11 Win

    It’s wild that it took us all the way until Week 11 for the first divisional game for the Pittsburgh Steelers this year, but after nine games on the ledger, a date with the Baltimore Ravens finally broke that streak. And it lived up to the name of AFC North football. By that, I mean…

  • Penguins Give Vasili Ponomarev Deserved Chance

    The Pittsburgh Penguins announced a series of roster moves earlier this morning. Heading back down to the American Hockey League is Joel Blomqvist, the defenseless rookie who has not experienced much help from the team in front of him. But, coming up from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton are Matt Nieto, arriving from his conditioning stint in the AHL,…

  • Willowing In Washington: Five Thoughts On Steelers’ Week 10 Win

    Heading into Sunday afternoon in Washington, Mike Tomlin was in an advantageous position. Since taking the head coaching gig of the Pittsburgh Steelers, Tomlin was 13-4 coming out of the bye week and 25-6 all-time against rookie quarterbacks. But this was no typical game coming out of the bye week. And there was no ordinary…

  • A Look At Tristan Jarry’s AHL Conditioning Stint

    Tristan Jarry is officially back. In a duo of roster moves announced yesterday afternoon, the Pittsburgh Penguins recalled Jarry from his conditioning stint in the American Hockey League, as well as starting forward Matt Nieto on a conditioning stint as the latest step in activating him from Long Term Injured Reserve. Jarry, as we all…

  • What Are The Pirates Getting In Trey Cabbage?

    The offseason has officially begun, and the Pittsburgh Pirates are starting things off with some underwhelming moves. In their second addition of the break, the team claimed outfielder Trey Cabbage from the Houston Astros. Now, before I do a deep dive into Cabbage’s work and what I believe a potential Pirates tenure could look like,…

  • Penguins Honor Fleury, Who Steals The Show In Wild Win

  • Belittlement: Five Thoughts On Steelers’ Week 8 Win

    Phew, we made it. I’ll be honest, that game was a lot closer than I would have liked it to be, but in the end the Steelers took care of business in Pittsburgh, and belittled the New York Giants 26-18. Pittsburgh moves to 6-2 on the back of their 22nd consecutive Monday Night Football win,…

  • Revisiting The Last Time The Penguins Beat The Oilers

    Well, last night was another ugly loss, as the Penguins fell to the Oilers in Edmonton 4-0. Oilers netminder Stuart Skinner pitched his first shutout of the season against an uninspired Penguins team that was thoroughly outplayed in every facet of the game. It was Pittsburgh’s seventh loss in a row against Edmonton, with the…