Um, no. I'm just making an unbiased list. If you think Cam Heyward is one of the 5 best professional athletes in Pittsburgh right now, you might be this guy:
Top 5 Current Pittsburgh Pro Athletes
- Thread starter TheWerewolfFromTwilight
- Start date
Um, no. I'm just making an unbiased list. If you think Cam Heyward is one of the 5 best professional athletes in Pittsburgh right now, you might be this guy:
Relative to the last two posts, as a baseball fan, I love the way Bryan Reynolds plays the game and he is clearly the Pirates best player (non-pitcher) right now, though Cruz hopefully passes him.
But, he is just a star on the Pirates. He is not an MLB star. He is probably only the 10th-12th best OF in the National League. Yes, he made the All Star team, because he has been really hot for more than a month and has some track record. This is his 2nd All Star game and he'll likely finish his career with 3-4 total All Star selections. That is a heck of a nice career, but is not a STAR player the way Crosby and Watt are, both future hall-of-famers with who regularly are selected to all stars/pro bowls, pretty much in any season they are healthy.
But, he is just a star on the Pirates. He is not an MLB star. He is probably only the 10th-12th best OF in the National League. Yes, he made the All Star team, because he has been really hot for more than a month and has some track record. This is his 2nd All Star game and he'll likely finish his career with 3-4 total All Star selections. That is a heck of a nice career, but is not a STAR player the way Crosby and Watt are, both future hall-of-famers with who regularly are selected to all stars/pro bowls, pretty much in any season they are healthy.
Which 5 are better than him right now? I'm not like dying on the Brian Reynolds hill or anything. I just don't know that there are five better professional athletes in this town than he is at the moment.
Again, not going by what their entire careers have been. Just talking about how good they are at this second.
Name me 10 to 12 OF's in the National League that are better than Brian Reynolds please.
Cam Heyward is barely a top 5 player on the Steelers defense at this point. Watt, Highsmith, Fitzpatrick and Porter are better.
1. TJ Watt - Most dominant defender currently in the NFL.
2. Sidney Crosby - Top 12 in NHL in scoring, most goals since 2016-17. Still gets it done on both ends of the ice, helped carry this team.
3. Paul Skenes - Electric every time he is out on the mound and has to be one of the most exciting young players in baseball.
------------
4. Minkah Fitzpatrick - I'm not going to knock him for the coaches playing him out of position last season and taking away his strengths. That is a coaching issue, not a player issue. He's still one of the best defensive backs in the game when he can do his job.
5. Bryan Reynolds or Patrick Queen - Reynolds is making his contract extension look good right now and is a legit MLB All Star. Queen is one of the best ILBs in the NFL, but we need to see if he translates to the Steelers defense.
As it was already alluded to, it doesn't feel like long ago you could make a legit argument for at least 5-7 Steelers players or 3-5 Penguins to be on this list. Those teams were stacked with talent in the late 2000s and through the late 2010s.
2. Sidney Crosby - Top 12 in NHL in scoring, most goals since 2016-17. Still gets it done on both ends of the ice, helped carry this team.
3. Paul Skenes - Electric every time he is out on the mound and has to be one of the most exciting young players in baseball.
------------
4. Minkah Fitzpatrick - I'm not going to knock him for the coaches playing him out of position last season and taking away his strengths. That is a coaching issue, not a player issue. He's still one of the best defensive backs in the game when he can do his job.
5. Bryan Reynolds or Patrick Queen - Reynolds is making his contract extension look good right now and is a legit MLB All Star. Queen is one of the best ILBs in the NFL, but we need to see if he translates to the Steelers defense.
As it was already alluded to, it doesn't feel like long ago you could make a legit argument for at least 5-7 Steelers players or 3-5 Penguins to be on this list. Those teams were stacked with talent in the late 2000s and through the late 2010s.
He obviously hasn't been following baseball this year.
Out of NL outfielders, he is 4th in BA, 2nd in HR, 5th in RBI, 7th in OBP, 2nd in Slugging and 2nd in WAR. He is amongst the best in the NL and there is no legitimate argument against that.
I'd potentially add Daniels, Jones, Pickens, Warren, maybe even Harris... and then I expect a few more to pass him this season. Although positional importance probably knocks a few of them down a bit.
Edit: Never mind - I see you said "defense" and not "team." But I agree with your premise.
Even at his age now, he is still a top world class hockey player.
Well, none of those have a higher WAR than Reynolds and only 2 have a better OPS than Reynolds. So how do you figure? Just going by your gut feeling or something?
Wouldn't Reynolds' WAR always be 0.0, or does that not stand for Wins Above Reynolds?
Well, if it stand for Wins Above Reynolds, then all of the OF's that Pitt Boss tossed out there are in the negatives.
That and the fact that he said 10 to 12 NL OF's are better and then only named 8 (most of whom have worse stats than Reynolds) sort of proves my point that he is one of the top OF's in the NL.
If all those players were thrown into a draft tomorrow for MLB teams, do you think Reynold would be picked first?
Probably another guy in contention for the list. Just don't tell that to the Stiller faithful; they'll tell you Boswell is (bos)well ahead of him.
You agree then that Joey Bart is a better player than Oneil Cruz? He has a higher OPS
I never claimed he was the top OF. I just took exception to you saying that he isn't even in the top 10 to 12 OF in the NL.
That would be silly. I cited most other relevant stats where Reynolds is at least in the top 7. OPS was just one of them. Just take the L and move on.
Oh, I see the issue, it's reading comprehension...because I didn't say that. I said he is #10 to #12, meaning there is probably at least 9 better OF. Better can be subjective, but at a minimum, I think there is wide consensus he isn't one of the Top 5 OF in the NL. So, he is at best in the 6-10 range. That's not a MLB star, which was really the topic. He's just a Pirates star and very good player across all of MLB.
As of right now, he is easily one of the best 10 OF's in the NL. I don't think that can be debated. And by being the 2nd best player on the Pirates and the other teams either being bad or in rebuild mode, he is one of the top 5 pro athletes in Pittsburgh. Maybe the NL lacks great OF right now. Maybe Pittsburgh doesn't have many good pro athletes right now. I'm not going to get into that. I'll just stick with facts and that is that Reynolds is one of the best NL OFers right now and one of the top 5 pro athletes in town right now.
I don't think I was disputing if he was one of the Top 5 in Pgh pro sports. Well, i only listed my top three (Skenes, Crosby, Watt). If you want to make Reynolds #4 or #5, I won't argue. The only other Pirates that warrant consideration are Keller and Cruz, but both need to accomplish more. Malkin is extremely accomplished, but past his prime. Same for Heyward on the Steelers.
I guess that makes it for me:
1. Watt
2. Crosby
3. Skenes
4. Minkah
5. Reynolds
Players to watch to crack the list soon: Pickens, Porter, Keller, Cruz
If Guentzel hadn't been traded you could have made a case for him over Reynolds. Both 2-time All Stars....
Yeah, to even consider Heyward you have to believe that at his age he is going to come back from his injury and be as good as he was two years ago. Because last year he didn't play at anywhere close to that level.
And at his age, that's not just asking for a lot, that's asking for way too much.
Cam Heyward walks down a street - every single person knows who he is.
That’s my criteria for why
If you were going to include Skenes and his 2.12 ERA in 59-1/3 innings you probably also have to include Reynaldo Lopez of the Braves with his 1.71 ERA in 89-2/3 innings. Literally, if he had gotten one more out somewhere along the line he'd be qualified and leading the league.
But even second is, ah, pretty good.
Well that can be your criteria, but it literally makes no sense.
I mean if Terry Bradshaw walks down the street every single person will know who he is too, but that doesn't make him a top five current Pittsburgh athlete.
I can think of a lot of former athletes who would be more recognizable that Cameron.
Right, when people start adding George Pickens and Cam Heyward to the list you've got an obvious talent problem.
1) Watt
2) Skenes
3) Sid
…..
…..
…..
4) Reynolds (who doesn't even belong with the first three)
5) Take your pick of 10 guys.
1. Crosby (sorry but there is no debate)
2. Watt
3. Skenes (rising fast)
4. Everyone else tied for 4th
2. Watt
3. Skenes (rising fast)
4. Everyone else tied for 4th
Talent problem is an understatement. It's been a while since any Pittsburgh franchise has won in the postseason.
If Skenes keeps pitching like this, he's going to be half as good as a 35-year-old Cam Heyward pretty soon.
Based on your criteria of “who would be valued the most in an open market on a one-year contract,” Russell Wilson should probably be on this list somewhere.
No he shouldn't. I'm not talking about guys who have high guaranteed contracts because teams did something stupid a few years ago. If you're going by existing contracts then Skenes wouldn't be the top Pirate, and he clearly is.
Serious question. Are there any top notch Pittsburgh based pro athletes or those who claim Pittsburgh as home in other sports? Golf, tennis, soccer, MMA?
cam heyward had more commercials last year than sacks.
and 90% of those people would tell him great career but zero chance you are getting a new contract here.
