You ask. I answer. It’s time for “Mailing It In,” a weekly Q&A that appears Tuesdays at TribLive.com. Most of the questions come via X, but you can also hit me up at jraystarkey@gmail.com. In last week’s mailbag, we suggested the Steelers sign Nick Herbig. Within hours, they did. Our influence is real! Let’s gooooooo …
Ryan Chepkevich: Joe at this moment who will be the Pirates’ All-Star Game representatives? I’m thinking Ashcraft, Lowe and Skenes.
Starkey: What about Oneil Cruz, Dr. C? He has 14 home runs and 21 steals, on his way to a 30/30 season. Why don’t more people mention him?
Paul Skenes I would think is a lock. He has the star power, plus he’s second in the NL in WHIP and ninth in ERA now that his ERA is down to 2.89 thanks to a late charged error from the Astros series. He hasn’t been his typical self, but that doesn’t mean he’s not an All-Star. His candidacy could be helped or hurt big-time by his start tonight against the Dodgers.
Brandon Lowe is probably having the best season of any Pirate, although Brice Turang is the best second baseman in the National League. Lowe beats him on home runs (15-10), but Turang is ahead on runs, RBIs, steals, average and OPS. There are others in that competition for the July 14 game in Philly.
Braxton Ashcraft’s last start really hurt his numbers. He’s now below Skenes in ERA, 12th in the NL. The month of June is huge for him.
I’d say Skenes and Lowe will be the reps. I think it should be Skenes, Cruz and Lowe at the moment. The All-Star starting lineups as voted on by fans will be announced July 2. The full rosters will be unveiled July 6.
QueenMargaret, @HRHMag13: How’s Seth Hernandez been pitching? Don’t hear about him anymore…
Starkey: Things have gotten a bit tougher for Hernandez — the Pirates’ top pick from a year ago — in high Class A, Dr. Queen.
After blowing away the competition in low-A, Hernandez has a 4.08 ERA in four starts and 17 2/3 innings with the Greensboro Grasshoppers (great nickname). He has walked 13 batters and given up 10 hits. But he has also struck out 26.
In other words, he has hit a bit of a road block. I expect he will clear it, but there is work to do.
Steve, @Steve3209839331: Seeing how Aiyuk has devolved into madness, can you believe how much Tomlin and Khan wanted this guy? Even ignoring the injury seems like the Steelers avoided a real headache.
Starkey: To be fair, Dr. 3209839331, who could have predicted that Brandon Aiyuk would become a miniature Mr. Big Chest? He was a great player at the time the Steelers were pursuing him. I can blame a lot of things on Mike Tomlin and Omar Khan, but not that.
Dysen Gould, @dysgould_2005: Dr. Starkey, how aggressive do you see the GMBC being at the deadline if they are in contention? For the sake of this question, let’s say they’re 3.5 back of division and have the final wild card spot. Thank you, sir.
Starkey: That’s a great question, Dr. 2005. Hopefully, Ben Cherington is free to be as newly aggressive as he was in the offseason and has the will to trade a highly rated prospect or two. Aroldis Chapman still tops my wish list.
And here’s the thing: You better believe other teams in the division (and the NL at-large) will be plenty aggressive. You think the Cubs are going to sit around and do nothing?
I suppose the good news is that the Pirates’ biggest need couldn’t be clearer: bullpen help.
Collin Dreher, @collin_dreher26: How realistic do we think it is that BC will make REAL changes to this roster? The bullpen needs desperate help, but the pessimistic Pirates fan in me doubts any meaningful changes will come… Hope I’m wrong!
Starkey: See above, Dr. D.
TomlinBurgh, @TomlinSteelers: Are fans going to miss Mike Tomlin?
Starkey: Not in the short term, Dr. Burgh. I think that relationship had run its course on both sides. They should have divorced a year earlier.
Tom Mosser Design, @tommosser: Hi Joe… the Steelers are paying quite a few players these days big $ but it is a wash … after next year Rogers will be off the books and there will be no franchise quarterback salary to pay for what could be half a decade even if they get a great QB next year. Thoughts?
Starkey: We can’t be positive that what you say is correct, Dr. Mosser. What if the Steelers decide to pay, say, Baker Mayfield to be their next quarterback? His future in Tampa seems a bit murky.
But your general point is well-taken. The Steelers likely will continue to have extra money to spend on other positions because they aren’t paying a quarterback big money. That’s the good news.
The bad news, and by far the worst news, is they still don’t have their future quarterback.
Ron Edward, @RonaldEdward24: Hey Joe, what do you think of these NBA Finals and Stanley Cup? Both have been great series so far. Any rooting interest?
Starkey: I’d like to see Jordan Staal win and John Tortorella lose in the Stanley Cup Final, Dr. 24, and I’d love to see the Knicks win the NBA title — although San Antonio is not a hateable team.
I love the fact that so many of the old Knicks — Patrick Ewing, John Starks, Larry Johnson, etc. — watch the games together. I have a poster of Starks dunking left-handed on Horace Grant and Michael Jordan. One of the great dunks of all-time.
And I love Madison Square Garden. It’s my all-time favorite sports venue. I covered Wayne Gretzky’s final NHL game there (the Rangers played the Penguins). I haven’t kept many credentials from all the games I’ve covered over the years, but I kept that one.
Skip Bittman, @skip_bittman: I was underwhelmed when McCarthy was hired. I wanted a Sean McVay Jr. wonderboy. But now I feel it’ll be a refreshing change to have an offense-focused coach who is much more likely to identify and develop a young QB than Tomlin. Do you sense the same from Steeler fans?
Starkey: I do, Dr. Bittman. If a coach and a team ever won minicamp, it was Mike McCarthy and the Steelers. That doesn’t mean it’ll translate, but having a real play caller for once is good, and telling T.J. Watt he’s gonna have to move around the formation on defense was positive PR, as well.
Geoffrey Lewis Music, @glewismusic: Listening to hot take Monday and mine is, Nutting doesn’t want a Skenes-Ohtani matchup. He’ll make more money splitting those two on different days, as they both provide a good bump in attendance regardless of who they’re pitching against.
Starkey: You might be right about that, Dr. Lewis, but they would have had a packed house for Skenes-Ohtani (which I supposed could still happen if tonight’s game happened to be rained out). Plus, the eyes of the entire baseball world would have descended upon Pittsburgh for a legendary pitching matchup. I’m sad we likely won’t see it. One of the two teams should have made it happen.
Alandunn, @alanmdunn: Why not move Cruz back to SS on an interim basis to get Triolo’s bat out and Mangum’s in?
Starkey: You can’t make Cruz move positions again, Dr. dunn. He’s just starting to become a decent center fielder. Keep him there.
But man, Jared Triolo is a tough watch. I’ll give you that. Zero pop in that bat. How he has 68 at-bats against righties (.191 average, one extra-base hit) I do not know. Don Kelly seems infatuated with Triolo’s skill set.
It’s crazy. And he’s not nearly as good a shortstop as he is a third baseman.
Jase Collins, @JaseCollins1980: Dr. Starkey, re: the Brendan Sorsby ruling, why don’t the courts let the NCAA govern itself instead of constantly indulging athletes running to them because they are told no on something? What’s next; Filing an injunction because they got a B in a class instead of an A?
Starkey: That judge’s ruling was insane. You can bet on your own team and still play? I agree with you.
TonyP, @TonyPetrolini: As someone who still loves true journalism what’s one story or profile you’d love to do today if money and time were no object?
Starkey: Excellent question, Dr. P. Probably the rise and fall of Chris Mueller.
And thank you for asking.