BRADENTON, Fla. -- The edges of Jacob Stallings’ smile could barely be seen from the sides of his mask. Maybe that was because it was from six feet away. Regardless, in-person interviews have been a rarity across all sports over the last year, and the setting at here at LECOM Park, with fans starting to file in, had a hint of normalcy.
It was also yet another reminder that even though a full spring training is close to being in the books and the regular season is set to start on time, the COVID-19 pandemic is still dictating much of how Major League Baseball is run.
MLB is trying to become the second league, behind the National Football League, to go through a full, full-sized season while still amidst the pandemic. As they did last year, the league and players association drafted health and safety protocols to get through the season. They were necessary, but at times, intrusive.
It’s been easier to adjust to those rules the second time around.
“Last year obviously was just so new,” Stallings told me. “Guys were trying to figure out their routines and just their daily schedules with all the protocols. I think guys have a better handle on it now. I wouldn’t say it’s second nature, but it’s not something that feels like an annoyance anymore.”
That goes the same for players who split their time between the majors and the newly-created alternate sites, like what David Bednar did with the Padres last year. Those alternate sites will be returning -- and the Pirates are still working on the details of what theirs will look like, and where it will be -- and for those who were expecting to play in Class AAA, playing three and four-inning intrasquad scrimmages was a shock.
“You didn’t have a whole idea of what to expect,” Bednar told me about the process.
There are some things that could be an annoyance, like players, coaches and non-player personnel having to wear a contact tracing wristband at all times while at a team facility. That’s new for 2021. Even though the Pirates broke into smaller groups to minimize person-to-person interaction, if someone broke protocols or tested positive, it could potentially affect dozens.
But there have been some loosened restrictions, such as allowing in-game video to return. Last year, many hitters, most notably Josh Bell, cited not being able to check on their swings in-game as an obstacle.
Whether it was because the league didn’t feel video rooms were large enough to accommodate multiple people, or it was looking for a way to cover its tracks after the Astros scandal, the change fell under health and safety.
“I was challenged in ways that I was never challenged before in a Major League game,” hitting coach Rick Eckstein said. “If I felt that way, I could only imagine how certain players felt.”
Going through this before helps make it easier mentally, too, Bednar and Stallings said. On road trips, players were confined to their hotel rooms. Many families decided to be apart during the season. Group dinners, hanging out, being around players outside of the ballpark. They were cancelled.
It was, in a word, lonely.
“Whether you’re struggling or doing well, you’re in your thoughts a lot more,” Stallings said.
It’s hard to say exactly how much the mental toll of last season impacted the Pirates’ performance. Derek Shelton said at the end of last year it was going to take some reflection. Even with the benefit of that hindsight, it's hard to say exactly.
Shelton believes his players are handling those challenges better this year, but there is just one final variable that will be new for 2021: The length of the season.
“I will be curious as we get into the season [with] the challenge of 162 games as opposed to 60,” Shelton said. “So, as we get into it, we're gonna have a better idea, and then know who knows where they go from there.”
MORE PIRATES
• Per a source, recently-signed right-hander Steven Wright will make $750,000 in base salary if he makes the team, which could be boosted to $1 million with performance bonuses. The Pirates opted to stockpile arms this offseason to make sure they have enough innings to cover the season, and while Wright has only ever pitched at least 150 competitive innings in a season once, knuckleballers are built to rack up innings. It will be a challenge for the catchers, none of whom has caught a knuckleball at the major league level. In fact, going by Pitchtrax data, the only Pirates “pitcher” to throw a knuckler since the advent of pitch tracking in 2008 was position player Josh Harrison in 2013. If you could call it that. -- Stumpf
• Don’t fret too much about Ke’Bryan Hayes rejecting the Pirates’ extension offer this offseason. Even if there is “no traction,” as one source put it, for a deal right now, both sides are still open to the idea in the future. The uncertainty surrounding the future of the game played a role in negotiations last year, especially when the Pirates briefly revisited talks during the shutdown. With the collective bargaining agreement set to expire at the end of this season, which could potentially bring significant change or a work stoppage, there’s a lot up in the air. It could explain why there are fewer extensions happening league wide for pre-arbitration players than there normally are this time of year. -- Stumpf
STEELERS
• Because the news finally leaked out last Friday when the Steelers gave the agent for Steven Nelson permission to seek a trade -- the same day they signed JuJu Smith-Schuster -- there was a feeling among many, including myself initially, that the two moves were intertwined. They were not, as evidenced when Smith-Schuster officially signed his contract before Nelson was eventually released. According to sources, the Steelers had quietly been shopping Nelson for several days and hadn't found a taker for his $8.25 million base salary. They then decided to step things up and allow his agent to reach out to teams, as well. But the time finally came to move on from Nelson to clear cap space. Oh, and Tyson Alualu wanted to go back to the Jaguars for family reasons. His wife and six children had remained in Jacksonville -- where he began his career -- the previous four years. The Steelers made a pitch to sign Alualu for the same money he accepted to go to Jacksonville. He declined. Players are allowed to make decisions about where they go. After Alualu turned them down, the Steelers re-signed Chris Wormley, instead. But they're still in the market for another veteran defensive tackle if the opportunity presents itself. And it should at some point. -- Dale Lolley on the South Side
• Steelers offensive tackle Zach Banner credits new offensive line coach Adrian Klemm in part for his new two-year, $9.5 million contract. "My development in these past two years is a huge chunk (owed) to him," Banner told me. "Head offensive line coaches are so into the week to week (preparation), they don’t really get to work with developmental guys. My game, Chuks (Okorafor), Kevin Dotson, a lot of that individual work came from Klemm. That’s one thing I’m very excited about. From a technique standpoint, I’m very excited." Klemm had been the Steelers' assistant offensive line coach the past two years under Shaun Sarrett, but was elevated when Sarrett was not retained. The Steelers have seen Maurkice Pouncey retire and lost Matt Feiler in free agency. They're also likely not to bring left tackle Alejandro Villanueva, another free agent back. "Our offensive line needs to get better," Banner said. "We know that, not only as individuals, but as a unit. I wouldn’t want to go into an offseason like this with anyone other than Klemm." -- Lolley
• As Art Rooney II said Thursday, the Steelers are feeling good about the potential to return to Saint Vincent College for training camp. Despite the cost involved -- and it is expensive -- they definitely would like to do so, and at this point, the league isn't putting any restrictions on teams working outside of their facilities this year. In fact, it looks like teams will have modified minicamps and OTAs, as well. Certainly, training camp at Saint Vincent College will have some restrictions. What those might include remains to be seen. For example, there probably will not be the access for fans -- at least not this year -- that they've had in the past to interact with players. But the team is planning on being there. And there's at least a chance some fans will be permitted to watch from the hillsides. -- Lolley
• Owners are going to meet virtually next week and the big thing on the agenda will be the expansion to a 17-game schedule. For the Steelers, that will mean hosting the Seahawks this season as the AFC North will play crossover games against the NFC West -- the division they played two years ago. The AFC will host all of the 17th games this season. That means the Ravens will host the Rams, the Browns will host the Cardinals and the Bengals will host the 49ers. In addition, because the preseason will be cut down to three games, NFC teams will host two preseason games and AFC teams will host one to ensure that all teams have 10 home games. Obviously, the Steelers and Cowboys also will both have a fourth preseason game because of the Hall of Fame game this year. But in 2022, for example, plan on the Steelers having just three preseason games, with two of those at home. -- Lolley
PENGUINS
Ron Hextall was one of the better goaltenders of his generation. He won the Vezina Trophy as a rookie with Philadelphia in 1986-87, and received the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP that spring, even though the Flyers lost to Edmonton in the Stanley Cup final. Hextall spent 13 seasons in the NHL, testimony not only to his feistiness and puck-handling abilities -- he had an ample supply of both -- but to his knowledge of the position. Nonetheless, Hextall made it clear recently that tutoring the Penguins' goaltenders on the finer points of their craft is not part of his job description as general manager. That, he said, is best left to goalie coach Mike Buckley -- and not only because trying to evaluate players, coaches, scouts and others around the organization is, at the very least, a full-time job. "In my day and age, we did not play goal anything like these guys," Hextall said. "(Buckley's) got a job, so I'll let him do his job. If I tried to get them to play like me, we'd be in big trouble." Hextall is, however, available to discuss things with goalies Tristan Jarry and Casey DeSmith, if they would want to seek his counsel. That happened occasionally with a rather accomplished goaltender he was around while working for Los Angeles. "I've had that (kind of interaction) over the years, with some of the goalies I've been with for a while," he said. "Jon(athan) Quick stands out. I've had that work out. It's just the normal ramble. In some senses, I've been there with them, probably more mentally than physically because we played much different than they do now." -- Dave Molinari at PPG Paints Arena
• At this time next week, the Penguins will be one game into a season-long six-game road trip that includes two games each in Boston, New York and New Jersey. It's completely understandable if Brandon Tanev hopes he is back in the lineup and operating at something close to full strength by then, because he has thrived in away games this season. He has five goals, four assists and just two penalty minutes in 15 away games. In 15 at PPG Paints Arena, he has two goals, four assists and 20 penalty minutes. (Despite the disparity in some of those stats, Tanev has a plus-10 plus-minus rating at home, but is just plus-1 on the road.) Conversely, defenseman Mike Matheson can't be blamed if he'd prefer to hang around Western Pennsylvania for a while longer. He does not have a point in 12 away games since joining the Penguins, and is minus-4 on the road. Then again, Matheson has good company there. First-liners Sidney Crosby and Jake Guentzel are tied for the worst road plus-minus on the club (-5) and linemate Bryan Rust is minus-4. -- Molinari
• Hockey nicknames tend to be pretty bland and predictable -- Rust, for example, is known to his co-workers as "Rusty" -- and generally are bestowed by a player's teammates. That, however, is not the case with the nickname that might be used most often inside and outside the locker room: "Geno." OK, it's not nearly as creative as when Jordan Staal's teammates knew him as "Gronk" -- or even the "Turbo" moniker that Tanev's speed earned him in some quarters -- but it's still vastly superior to what Evgeni Malkin's standard-issue nickname would have been -- something along the lines of "Malks" or "Malker." The name by which Malkin is almost universally known actually came from former Penguins media-relations guy Keith Wehner, who hit upon it as an Anglicized version of "Evgeni" shortly after Malkin arrived in North America. And who probably didn't realize at the time that it would have every bit as much staying power as Malkin himself has. -- Molinari