U mad, bro?: Fans reject idea of Steelers drafting Brendan Sorsby, refute concerns about Paul Skenes

Tim Benz TribLive Thu, Jun 18, 2026 • 06:01 AM

Brandon Soresby and Paul Skenes (AP/Christopher Horner | TribLive)

Usually, the prospect of landing a high-profile quarterback would have Pittsburgh Steelers fans in a state of frenzy.

When that quarterback has a gambling rap sheet a mile long, that’s not so much the case.

At any point when the Pirates have had an ace pitcher with a 2.85 ERA and a WHIP of 0.927, their fans have been tickled pink.

When that pitcher is Paul Skenes, and the team has lost his last six starts, there is something to gripe about.

People vent about those concerns and more in this week’s “U mad, bro?”

We begin with an email from Tom.

“How appropriate Mr. Mom, Michael Keaton, was at the Pirates game Sunday. Henry Davis, fresh off his paternity leave, should consider being a Mr. Mom stay-at-home dad.

His batting average isn’t even close to .220, .221.”

Maybe they should play Joey Bart more often when he gets healthy. Or more Endy Rodriguez. Or Rafael Flores Jr.

Whatever it takes.

John doesn’t share the same level of concern about Paul Skenes’ dip in velocity that Mark Madden and I have.

Or why don’t the Pirates score runs when he pitches? Or why do the RPs choke when they relieve him? He struck out 10, gave up 4 hits & now you are talking about his velo?

— John Stewart (@21jjss) June 15, 2026

Well, we actually did talk about all those things. You simply gave me all the reasons why the team’s six-game losing streak with Skenes pitching is not his fault.

Wanna give any reasons why some of it might be? And if a noticeable dip in velocity isn’t among them, what are the others?

Sixburgh092 thinks Skenes is holding back on purpose.

“He was just saying how he’s 100% against a salary cap. He said (screw) it, he’s not going to blow his arm for Nutting.”

To an extent, that’s understandable. I wouldn’t blow my nose for Nutting.

But, as I wrote on Tuesday, I don’t think Skenes is holding back on purpose. Any pitcher who can throw 100 mph is going to throw 100 mph if he is trying to get fastballs by Shohei Ohtani.

If he didn’t, it’s because he can’t right now … for whatever reason.

Skenes has done so against Ohtani before. Two weeks ago against Ohtani, he got him out at 97mph.

Skenes may not be attempting to live in triple digits like Milwaukee’s Jacob Misiorowski, but if he could get there as easily as he did his first two years in Pittsburgh, he’d definitely be visiting that stratosphere more often.

This guy doesn’t think the Steelers will make a bid for potential supplemental draft quarterback Brendan Sorsby because of his gambling history.

Cmon dude. You don’t believe this for one second and you know the Steelers wouldn’t touch the character issues.

— You Know It’s Tru Tho (@know_tru) June 16, 2026

Hahaha! Good one!

Okey dokey, Art’s gonna approve out of control sports gambling addict guy ????

If you’re referring to AB, that happened after he became a superstar. They got rid of Pickens. Who else?

— You Know It’s Tru Tho (@know_tru) June 16, 2026

You serious, Clark?

Part of the reason Antonio Brown dropped to the sixth round was because of character concerns. Same for George Pickens to the second round. They drafted those guys anyway.

The Steelers held an additional draft day press conference with Kevin Colbert to explain why they took Mike Adams. They kept giving Martavis Bryant multiple chances. They drafted Chris Rainey after a suspension for aggravated stalking at Florida. They signed Michael-bleeping-Vick for cryin’ ‘aht lahd!

They drafted Alameda Ta’amu after a DUI-related matter at Washington. Then he played bumper cars on the Southside. They brought back Cam Sutton. They brought back Plaxico Burress after he shot himself in New York.

I mean, how many more examples do you want?