Pittsburg, PA
Former Champion Gives Steelers LB Early DPOY Endorsement
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PITTSBURGH — It doesn’t take an expert to see that Pittsburgh Steelers’ linebacker T.J. Watt is on a mission this season. Despite the eye test and statistics showing he’s the best edge rusher in the NFL by a wide margin, Watt’s been continuously passed over for individual awards and recognitions the last few seasons.
All the Steelers and Watt care about is winning, so the individual accolades or lack thereof don’t bother the star LB. However, his week one performance showed that the two might go hand in hand. Watt was an absolute force in their week one victory over the Atlanta Falcons. He had four total tackles, a sack, and a fumble recovery. He also had a game-wrecking strip sack called back due to offsides, but the call was a borderline one that could have gone either way.
Another part of Watt’s game that stood out was how effective he was on running plays. Former NFL player and current analyst Chris Long pointed out how much he disrupted the Falcons’ rushing attack. Speaking on his Green Light with Chris Long podcast, Long discussed how impressive Watt was.
“Atlanta tried to pound the ball, and they should, running away from Watt,” he said, “Who was simultaneously wrecking their game. He was on a razors edge of wrecking the game the entire first half. But they’d run the ball away from him. I mean they ran the ball probably 80% of the time to left and when they did run the ball at Watt, he forced the penalty early in the game…It felt like Pittsburgh was at home.”
Watt’s performance has Long thinking about DPOY already. While acknowledging how many good defensive players there are in the NFL, Long believes watching Watt is something totally different.
“You want to talk about DPOY?” he said. “There were a lot of great defensive players. (Aidan) Hutchinson was great, Micah (Parsons) was Micah. You know, some guys had some good days. But watching T.J. Watt,” Long smirked as he failed to finish his sentence.
The compliments kept rolling on the show for Watt. Long’s co-hosts discussed how much game planning goes into competing against the LB, only for most teams to struggle against the Steelers’ pass rush regardless. The Steelers are hoping that their star defender can continue his reign of terror entering week two, and he can continue building his DPOY campaign.
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Pittsburg, PA
Pirates’ Termarr Johnson Discusses Minor League Season
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PITTSBURGH — During the Pittsburgh Pirates’ win over the Miami Marlins on Monday night, top prospect Termarr Johnson sat down with SportsNet Pittsburgh’s Hannah Mears and discussed his rise through the team’s minor league system.
The Altoona Curve, Pittsburgh’s Double-A affiliate, was in town for the game, allowing Johnson to capture a closer look at his future stomping grounds.
The 20-year-old infielder is currently ranked as the organization’s No. 3 prospect and the No. 80 farmhand across the league by MLB Pipeline.
Johnson began the year in High-A Greensboro, where he hit .238/.372/.385 with 13 home runs, 46 RBIs and 20 stolen bases over 110 games. He was promoted to Double-A on Aug. 27 and has slashed .184/.273/.368 in 11 contests with the Curve.
When asked what the transition between the two levels has been like for him, Johnson praised the nature of Altoona’s clubhouse and how that’s impacted him as he’s settled in.
“It’s been great,” Johnson said. “Just having these guys, this clubhouse is great. All these guys are amazing and it’s just cool having them here, and having them throughout the season. I’m excited just to continue to play with them and finish out the season strong with them.”
The former No. 4 overall pick in the 2022 MLB Draft, Johnson is heralded as a potential building block within the Pirates’ future core. He’s struggled at times throughout the year, but he possesses an abundance of raw power and strong plate discipline that could help him develop into a true difference-maker at the major league level should his hit tool continue to progress.
Johnson stated that his biggest step forward this season has come with adapting his mindset, ensuring that he’s always prepared and available no matter the situation throughout the course of a game.
“Just being able to be available every day,” Johnson said. “Having that mindset that I’m going out there to play, even on the days off. Having that mindset even when the game is late, just to go in and try to help the team win late in the game.”
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Pittsburg, PA
Andrew McCutchen keeps climbing the charts in Pittsburgh. He still can't shake what might have been
PITTSBURGH — The pain still lingers for Andrew McCutchen, even now in the final stages of a comeback season few saw coming.
So while the 37-year-old designated hitter appreciates the milestones he keeps checking off — like reaching 20 home runs in a Pittsburgh Pirates uniform for the eighth time during Tuesday night’s 6-4 win over Miami — the thoughts still linger about what might have been.
The truth is, he never wanted to leave. He became a victim of baseball economics in January 2018 when the Pirates traded their franchsie cornerstone to San Francisco, starting McCutchen on a five-year odyssey in which he bounced from the Giants to the New York Yankees to Philadelphia to Milwaukee.
Nice places, all. Good teammates. Some good times. But not Pittsburgh. Not his adopted home.
And so while McCutchen understands he is reaching rarified air on a team that’s been in the National League since 1887 — only Hall of Famer Willie Stargell has more 20 homer seasons with the Pirates than McCutchen — he can’t help but think about how much higher he’d be on some of the club’s all-time lists if not for that nomadic half-decade when he felt at times like a mercenary.
“It’s nice to be able to be with those guys and those greats, it’s amazing,” McCutchen said. “But it would be cool if I was here my whole career and then see where I would be at.”
Only, that didn’t happen. And as much as he has leaned into the warm embrace that accompanied his somewhat surprising return in early 2023, there’s a small part of him that is frustrated he had to leave in the first place.
Pittsburgh Pirates’ Andrew McCutchen watches his three-run home run during the fifth inning of a baseball game against the Miami Marlins, Tuesday, Sept. 10, 2024, in Pittsburgh. Credit: AP/Matt Freed
“Every time I hear (where I rank), I’m like ‘Dang man, if only,’” McCutchen said. “I just go ‘cool’ and then I just move on.”
He admits legs that carried him to five All-Star appearances, the 2013 NL MVP and a Gold Glove don’t move quite like they used to. A partially torn left Achilles last September forced him to spend a portion of the offseason in a protective boot. Spring training was a slog. He felt like he was playing catchup, admitting “I just wasn’t there” and only too aware of doubters.
That made the 403-foot shot to the left-field seats off Miami’s Adam Oller with two on in the fifth — the 319th homer of McCutchen’s 16-year career — all the sweeter.
“Would a lot of people think I’d have (reached 20 homers)? Probably not,” he said. “It’s why I don’t look at them … because I know I can do it.”
Pittsburgh Pirates’ Andrew McCutchen hits a three-run home run during the fifth inning of a baseball game against the Miami Marlins, Tuesday, Sept. 10, 2024, in Pittsburgh. Credit: AP/Matt Freed
McCutchen has morphed from dreadlocked, swagged-out blur to elder statesman. The gap between his age and 22-year-old Pirates rookie ace Paul Skenes is just one year less than the gap between Skenes and McCutchen’s 6-year-old son Steel.
Yet with all those years comes wisdom. Asked if he thinks he’s a sharper hitter now than he when he led the Pirates to three straight playoff appearances from 2013-15, he laughs and points out he’s become a cliche of sorts. The whole “if I knew then what I know now” thing.
Then, growing a little more serious, he sounded very much like a player who believes there is still plenty left to do in the game before walking away.
“I’ve definitely gotten better over the past five, six, seven, eight – I don’t know how many years it’s been – but I’ve gotten better,” he said. “And I’ve gotten myself back to where I feel like I can be.”
And while his batting average (.241) isn’t what it was a decade ago — the wear and tear on his body that comes from 2,116 games has seen to that — his eye remains elite.
What impressed Pirates manager Derek Shelton as much as McCutchen’s power surge — his 20 homers this season are the most he’s hit since 2021 — was the full-count curveball he let go by for ball four in his next at bat.
“Nobody takes that pitch,” Shelton said.
McCutchen still does. The walk was the team-high 53rd this season, his approach in the batter’s box an example of what being a professional hitter means to a team whose lackluster offense led to a second-half swoon that dropped them out of postseason contention.
The optimism that accompanied Skenes’ arrival in mid-May has turned into the reality that the young Pirates core isn’t quite ready. McCutchen, whose charisma and talent authored the last Pittsburgh baseball renaissance a decade ago, believes another one is on the way. And he very much wants to be a part of it.
While he will technically can become a free agent after the season and he wants to play “if I don’t embarrass myself,” the Florida native wants very much to do it in the place he never wants to leave again.
“I haven’t been in the playoffs in a while here and it would be nice to do it here,” McCutchen said. “We’re a special group of guys. We’re a special team. It’s there.”
Pittsburg, PA
Steelers Add Former Saints WR
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PITTSBURGH — The Pittsburgh Steelers are making a change to their practice squad, signing former New Orleans Saints wide receiver Shaquan Davis and releasing inside linebacker Marcus Haynes, the team announced.
Davis started his NFL career as an undrafted free agent with the Saints in 2023 and spent his rookie season on the Saints practice squad. This past offseason, he signed with the Philadelphia Eagles, but eventually returned to New Orleans during training camp.
Davis spent his college football days at South Carolina State, where he finished his career with 934 receiving yards and 11 touchdowns. In 2022 during his final season, he totaled 23 receptions for 546 yards and five touchdowns.
The Steelers are looking for as much help at wide receiver as possible. With all wideouts outside of George Pickens accounting for two receptions for eight yards in the season opener, and rookie Roman Wilson still dealing with an ankle sprain, Pittsburgh will weigh all options each week.
The team is hopeful to see an uptick in Wilson’s progression this week, but it’s no guarantee he’ll play. Davis will have an opportunity to showcase his skills during the practice week, working alongside Quez Watkins, Ben Skowronek and Brandon Johnson, with the hopes of eventually earning a place on the 53-man roster.
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