PIRATES

Mitch Keller can relate in a sense to what Bubba Chandler is going through early in his major-league career. 

Once viewed as the top pitching prospect in baseball, Chandler has experienced both ups and downs as a big-leaguer, with the latter moreso associated with command issues (36 walks in 52 innings) rather than being hit hard on a consistent basis (.219 batting average against). 

Keller experienced similar obstacles in his first few years with the Pirates. His first 39 starts resulted in a 7-17 record, a 6.02 ERA and a 1.73 WHIP. He averaged 11.2 hits allowed per nine innings and his walks per nine (4.4) were spot on with where Chandler had recently lied heading into his most previous start.

“I see a lot of myself in him, especially with the early struggles,” Keller told me. “But he was also a top prospect and was never expected to fail. Obviously he’s not trying to fail, but it’s hard and it takes some learning. During the moments, you just gotta relax, calm down in moments and worry about executing your pitch. He’s doing a great job and has made some good adjustments.” 

Keller’s been where Chandler currently is. And he’s managed to work his way through the struggles to transform himself into arguably one of the more reliable pitchers in all of Major League Baseball. Consider this: In 137 appearances (135 starts) since the beginning of 2022, Keller has a 4.10 ERA, a 1.28 WHIP, has allowed 8.8 H/9 and 2.7 BB/9. 

“I surely don’t have it all figured out, but being able to slow the game down is huge,” Keller said. “You can’t take things too seriously either. You’ve gotta have fun playing and you’ve gotta enjoy the moments you’re in. Enjoy the challenge and expect things to go your way, even when they’re not.” 

There’s no doubting Chandler’s talents. The stuff is there and he’s fully capable of being a productive starter at this level. And with players of this caliber, the experience isn’t always linear. There’s sometimes a learning curve associated with competing against major-league hitters on a consistent basis. Keller knows that all too well. 

“I definitely feel like I’m someone he can rely on,” Keller said. “I’ve been in his same exact spot and he’s got way better stuff than I ever had. I think he’s going to be just fine.” 

MORE PIRATES

• Konnor Griffin, Esmerlyn Valdez, Wilber Dotel and Brandan Bidois represent the four players who have debuted for the Pirates this season, giving the organization a glimpse of assets capable of impacting the major-league squad now and into the future. Add Jhostynxon Garcia and now Tyler Callihan, and the Pirates have seen an influx of some less-experienced youth mix into a roster that includes other more established big-leaguers. 

Nick Gonzales knows what it’s like to be a part of a young group adjusting to the big-league level. It was just three years ago in 2023 when Gonzales was one of 14 Pirates players to make their MLB debut. That group also included the likes of Carmen Mlodzinski, Jared Triolo and Henry Davis. 

Now, Gonzales is a more experienced member of the Pirates’ everyday lineup. And he’s enjoying the impact some of the younger guys have made with their opportunities. 

“It’s awesome for them to come up and impact the game like they’ve done,” Gonzales said. “It’s great for everybody. If somebody goes down, someone is there to step up and fill in their shoes and do what they can to help the team win. It’s not easy. I’ve been in those shoes before where you come up and it’s your first taste of the big leagues. It’s tough, and they’re handling it with great composure. They’re looking forward to each challenge that is thrown in front of them and it’s exciting to see.” — José Negron

• The decision to recall Callihan and send Valdez back to Indy makes sense when thinking about Griffin’s injury and the fact that Gonzales was a bit banged up heading into Thursday’s game. Needed that extra infield depth, and it’s honestly good that they had Callihan ready to deploy. — José Negron

PENGUINS

• The Penguins have very few decisions to make with their unrestricted free agent forwards this summer. Anthony Mantha is extremely unlikely to return, as previously reported. Kevin Hayes is even less likely to return for obvious reasons. Noel Acciari? Eh. As far as the guys currently in the AHL, there are still few decisions to be made. Joona Koppanen has an agreement to sign in Sweden in the summer already. Rafael Harvey-Pinard? Eh. That leaves Boko Imama as one of the more interesting conversations among their unrestricted free agent forwards..

Imama, of course, isn't a "prospect." He's 29. After playing 16 games with Pittsburgh in 2024-25, he just wasn't needed as much at the NHL level this year, only playing in two games. But there's still value in having someone like him with the AHL club, where fighting and having an actual enforcer on the roster is more important.

Imama told me he isn't focused on the summer just yet. He hasn't had any talks, has no sense of which direction the Penguins might want to go, and hasn't even really thought about it much -- "Just trying to get the job done here," he told me on Thursday after Wilkes-Barre's practice.

Imama skated in 66 regular-season games with Wilkes-Barre this season, as well as six playoff games. He's seen time as a healthy scratch, including as of late in the playoffs when Wilkes-Barre added young players in the mix. If Imama is to return, his role would likely be a similar one. 

"It's hard," Imama told me of watching from the stands. "Like any competitive guy, I think we'll find it hard. But I'm a team guy first, and I think every single guy that's in the current lineup right now deserves to be in. The boys have been doing a tremendous, tremendous job. It's great assets for the team being that deep, and there's a lot of guys we can rely on. It's the best thing right now."

Regardless of whether this is Imama's last year in the organization, he's immensely grateful for what he's been able to do in the organization, including the most games he's played with any NHL team and a Masterton Trophy nomination.

"Last year was very special to me," Imama said. "The opportunity I had, the Masterton award was special. Spending a lot of time in the NHL, it was great for me as a player. My confidence, everything was great this year. Just being part of such a great team, seeing some talented prospects coming in and doing what they have to do to give themselves a shot has been special. Bring on a winning team, the final four, it's all things that I'm very grateful for. Just looking forward to getting the job done." -- Taylor Haase

• There's an argument to be made that bringing Imama back would be good for the prospects. Rutger McGroarty once told me as a rookie that there was an absolute difference the young guys could feel in games when Imama was in the lineup vs. when he was not, and the young players would be targeted (or at least chirped) more by opponents. -- Taylor Haase

• Back when Sidney Crosby was injured this season and in press boxes on the road, fans were constantly coming up to the game to talk to him. I was sitting near where the scratches sit here on Wednesday, and watching the fans come up to the box was similar to what you saw with Crosby on the road -- but they're all wanting to talk to Imama here. He's really connected with the community. He could run for mayor. -- Taylor Haase

• Mikhail Ilyin doesn't speak much English at all. He needed a translator last year for development camp to do an interview, and nothing's really changed. Alex Alexeyev and Sergei Murashov have been big for getting him acclimated, and Ilyin fits in well with the group despite his limited verbal communication. -- Taylor Haase

• Kyle Dubas and Jason Spezza are both in Switzerland for the World Championship, this after Dubas did take some time to watch both Wheeling and Wilkes-Barre in person in the playoffs. Amanda Kessel is the one holding down the fort here from hockey operations. -- Taylor Haase

• Some insight into Dubas' philosophy with free agents: The aversion to signing the bigger UFAs both now and last summer isn't about saving cap space for that season. It's that the unrestricted free agent market just hasn't been good, and by the nature of unrestricted free agency rules, those players are going to be older than what they want. The "bigger" UFAs, even in a bad market like this summer, are still going to want multi-year deals, and the Penguins might not want one of those guys on the roster two years from now when their younger players are ready for elevated roles. Because of that, "wasting" cap space by letting it go unused can sometimes be the smart call. -- Taylor Haase

STEELERS

• "All the guys seem to love the change and are excited for change."

That was defensive line coach Domata Peko this week when addressing reporters during OTAs. While he was talking about his own defensive linemen, there's a greater truth within that statement than intended.

From my own conversations with a few different players, and based on what I've been able to observe throughout OTAs, there's a rejuvenation on the defensive side of the ball under new defensive coordinator Patrick Graham. There was a ton of respect for Mike Tomlin and Teryl Austin, but there was also quite a bit of strife that's been forgotten about due to the emotional toll of Tomlin stepping down after 19 seasons.

So much of the past couple seasons, but especially last season, was consumed by internal struggles between the coaching staff and players. Several players didn't agree with everything that was happening on the inside. And while some of those players that remain with the team will continue to be respectful toward the franchise and their former coach, others have spoken out about it, either off the record with reporters such as myself or have gone the public route, as Darius Slay did recently on a podcast.

But under Graham, there appears to be a healthier reception for his vision, whether that's switching a player's role (such as Keeanu Benton playing more as a defensive end and Yahya Black playing more nose tackle in OTAs) or introduction of different schematics.

While no player is really willing to go into definitive changes -- understandably so -- there's a genuine excitement for different disguises and a shakeup in the coverages the defense will deploy. There's also hope that no longer will certain positions be stressed in ways they were before, such as Slay's gripe of cornerbacks playing outside leverage with no inside help.

We have yet to see anything be definitive just yet. It's still only OTAs. There's a long way to go before the season opener on Sept. 6 at Acrisure Stadium. But, the players that were here last year see something different, and they like it. -- By Chris Halicke in Pittsburgh

• Of all my observations at OTAs, I've finally started to really zone in on how position coaches handle individual drills. I like to see how they handle each player they coach directly. And, let me tell you, outside linebackers coach C.J. Ah You is impressive. He's as hands on as any coach I've seen, even more than Zach Azzanni was with his wide receivers here. He'll run drills wearing blocking pads and take on contact from his outside linebackers. He gets right in there and coaches them as if he's one of them. It's an intriguing watch. Fans ought to love that during training camp. -- Chris Halicke

• I want to be clear on something I reported from OTAs last week. While Joey Porter Jr. has yet to participate in any drill at OTAs, even when he's been in attendance, calling anything he's doing as officially a "hold-in" is irresponsible -- a word I used in my initial report. While what Porter is doing looks like he's preparing a hold-in, it does not ensure that's exactly what's happening. Now, if we get to mandatory minicamp and he's not present or present but not participating and Mike McCarthy does not indicate he's dealing with any injury, then it can be called a hold-in. Until then, it's just something to monitor. -- Chris Halicke

• While there won't be any official depth chart until August, and the touches will surely be split pretty evenly, I'm led to believe that Rico Dowdle will be the de facto starter at running back. Perhaps that's due to his familiarity with McCarthy's offense or his recently proven ability to handle a lot of touches, but I also don't believe Jaylen Warren is demoted in some way. He'll have plenty of touches, which could include more of a presence on third down and series of his own. -- Chris Halicke

• One player that coaches are raving about at OTAs: Kaleb Johnson. While I firmly believe he has to find a way to contribute on special teams to earn a roster spot, which we won't find out until the pads come on in Latrobe, he's certainly made the most of his opportunity at OTAs. No roster spots are won in May, but he's off to a great start. -- Chris Halicke

• One major hurdle in Broderick Jones' attempt to return from his neck injury: He's lost a lot of weight. While I don't have a definitive number, he sure looks to be under 300 pounds. His listed weight is 311 pounds, so it's not a far drop off to be under the 300 mark. The main reason for the drop in weight is having to go so long without weight training. Muscle mass is lost when that happens. So, not only does Jones have to recover from the surgery, he's gotta get back to a weight in which he can play tackle in the NFL. There's a long way to go. -- Chris Halicke