My sports highlight yesterday had nothing to do with baseball.
The Denver Nuggets beat the Los Angeles Lakers last night, and in the process, the veteran leadership from Russell Westbrook was on display.
If you’re not an NBA fan, Westbrook was one of the best players in the league about a decade ago. Currently in his age-36 season, he is statistically removed from his prime, but still effective. He put up 17 points, 6 rebounds, 7 assists, and a steal. There were two moments in this performance which stood out.
The first came when Westbrook made a three pointer in front of Lakers rookie Dalton Knecht. Westbrook taunted Knecht after the shot. Knecht immediately responded on the other end, receiving a pass and launching a three of his own. Westbrook wasn’t guarding Knecht, but after the three, Knecht found Westbrook on the floor and taunted back at him.
I’m pretty sure that Westbrook wasn’t thinking about that three pointer from Knecht, nor was he thinking about the one he made in front of Knecht. That said, he got in the mind of the rookie, to where Knecht was thinking about Westbrook even after making his own three pointer.
The second play was at the end of the game. The Lakers were down by three with seconds remaining and a chance to tie. Westbrook picked off the inbound pass, driving up an open court to seal the Nuggets win with a dunk.
Westbrook’s performance had me thinking about Andrew McCutchen and Tommy Pham of the Pirates. McCutchen is probably the most comparable, as a former MVP around the same time Westbrook was on top of the NBA. Pham had a few multi-WAR seasons, including a huge 2017, during his prime playing days.
Both hitters still have gas in the tank. McCutchen has been one of the best hitters on the Pirates the last two seasons, with above-average results. Pham is only a year removed from a 2-WAR season.
It’s unlikely that either of these players will return to the level of play they showed about a decade ago. That would require a consistency of production every single night, which is difficult to do in your late-30s.
What is likely is that McCutchen and Pham both have the potential to take over a game and deliver a win for the Pirates from time to time.
McCutchen isn’t in his MVP prime, but he’s still productive. He’s capable of taking over a game, just not as frequently as he did during his first run through Pittsburgh.
Pham had a three-year stretch of above-average performance in 2017-19. He still has the skills, intensity, and drive to compete.
It’s more likely that McCutchen is the Westbrook-equivalent for the Pirates. Both McCutchen and Pham will have the potential in 2025 to do what Westbrook did last night — take over a game with a somewhat nostalgic form of elite play, leading their team to victory.
A DAY IN THE LIFE
The Pirates had their Spring Breakout game yesterday, with their top prospects taking on the minor leaguers from the Phillies system.
If you watched the broadcast, you might have noticed it was very heavily slanted toward the Philadelphia system. If you want more information on the Pirates prospects, I wrote a recap of the game in today’s Pirates Prospect Watch. The recap looks at five prospects who stood out to me from the game.
Pirates Prospect Watch: Five Standouts From the Spring Breakout Game
There are no links today, as I’m taking a break from baseball today.
There is some Pirates news which was announced this morning: Paul Skenes will be the Opening Day starter.
SONG OF THE DAY
