First Call: Just 1 safety rated higher than Steelers’ Minkah Fitzpatrick; Mets limp into Pittsburgh to play Pirates
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Friday’s “First Call” looks at a flailing opponent for the Pirates at PNC Park this weekend. It’s the anniversary of a memorable night in Pittsburgh hockey history. A Steelers All-Pro is deemed to be second best at his position.
And the Pirates get a little help on their off day.
Malfunctioning Mets
The Pittsburgh Pirates (32-29) just lost two of three games to the pathetic Oakland A’s (14-50). So making any prediction based on the quality of competition for the Bucs may be a fool’s errand.
But, wow, is their next opponent struggling.
The New York Mets (30-33) come to the North Shore losers of six in a row. They just blew a 10-6 lead in the sixth inning to complete a sweep at the hands of the Atlanta Braves on Thursday night. Atlanta got homers in the eighth, ninth and 10th innings to win it.
In order, Travis d’Arnaud, Orlando Arcia and Ozzie Albies did the damage.
Chipper calls Travis home! #ForTheA pic.twitter.com/BLhnEfTkuT
— Atlanta Braves (@Braves) June 9, 2023
ARSEEYA LATER!!#ForTheA pic.twitter.com/fhx25jpVaI
— Atlanta Braves (@Braves) June 9, 2023
PSA
OZZIE 3-RUN WALK-OFF HOMER@ozzie | #ForTheA pic.twitter.com/L2FLCOyQ8f— Atlanta Braves (@Braves) June 9, 2023
To make matters worse, Major League Baseball home run leader Pete Alonso (22) missed the game with a wrist injury. He was hit by a pitch thrown by former Pirate Charlie Morton on Wednesday. Initially, X-rays showed no fracture. But Alonso was sent back to New York for more tests. His status for the Pirates series is unknown.
Thursday night’s contest was the first one Alonso has missed this season.
Central swoon
At least the second-place Pirates gained a little ground in the National League Central during their day off on Thursday.
The division-leading Milwaukee Brewers lost the finale of their three-game set to the Baltimore Orioles. After dropping the first two, the O’s managed to win in Wisconsin 6-3 on Thursday.
Baltimore’s Kyle Bradish yielded three runs in the first inning. Then he allowed just two hits over the next four-plus innings, striking out 10 along the way. Infielder Gunnar Henderson hit a go-ahead homer in the eighth inning.
GUNNAR. HENDERSON. pic.twitter.com/sP07dzPyBP
— Baltimore Orioles (@Orioles) June 8, 2023
Meanwhile, the third-place Cincinnati Reds also dropped a 6-0 decision to the Los Angeles Dodgers.
So that means the Pirates (32-29) start their series against the Mets a game behind the Brewers (34-29) and four games in front of the Reds (29-34). The Pirates also currently hold the third and final wild-card spot by half a game in front of the San Francisco Giants.
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Silver medal
Pro Football Focus placed Steelers All-Pro Minkah Fitzpatrick second among NFL safeties in its preseason rankings. That’s according to writer Dalton Wasserman.
He has Derwin James of the Los Angeles Chargers first, stating, “James is the league’s most dynamic playmaker at safety. There isn’t a better combination of run defense (75.3 grade), coverage (74.5) and pass rush (90.9). His 77.6 overall grade ranked 13th among all qualified safeties in 2022. He racked up two interceptions, two forced fumbles and four sacks. On any given day, the soon-to-be 27-year-old has the ability to be the best safety in football. If he has another performance similar to his rookie year (87.8 overall grade), he’ll be in the Defensive Player of the Year conversation.”
As far as Fitzpatrick goes, Wasserman writes, “The centerpiece of the Steelers’ secondary, Fitzpatrick had an excellent 2022 season after a disappointing 2021. His 82.4 overall grade ranked third among qualified safeties and he was one of just two safeties in the NFL to post at least an 82.0 grade in both run defense and coverage. His six interceptions, including a pick-six of Joe Burrow, tied for the NFL lead among all players. The Steelers’ cornerback position is in flux, but they can take comfort in knowing Fitzpatrick is roving behind them.”
To me it’s six of one, a half dozen of the other. They are both great players and don’t exactly play the safety position the same way. So it’s a hard comp to make.
One thing that should come up as a factor in the analysis is durability. Fitzpatrick has never missed more than two games in a season. James missed all of 2020 after playing in just five games in 2019. He missed three games last year.
Ready to feel old?
It’s already been 14 years since the Penguins’ memorable 2009 Stanley Cup Final win over the Detroit Red Wings.
The anniversary of Game 6 is Friday. That’s the night Jordan Staal and Tyler Kennedy both scored to pace Pittsburgh to a 2-1 win, after the Wings had shellacked Pittsburgh 5-0 in Detroit in Game 5.
Goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury stopped 25 of 26 shots (13 saves in the third period) to secure the win and force a Game 7 back in Detroit three nights later.
I’m pretty sure we all remember how that turned out.