The Pirates’ catching coach, Jordan Comadena, is preparing for what he describes as a “once-in-a-lifetime opportunity,” as he’ll serve as the bullpen catcher for Team USA in the upcoming World Baseball Classic.
Comadena, who is entering his 11th season with the Pirates, told me that this is something that has been in the works since last summer when Paul Skenes was the starting pitcher in the All-Star Game for a second consecutive year. Skenes wanted to bring Comadena with him to Atlanta, Ga., but it wasn’t logistically possible. So, as a compromise, Skenes was granted permission to bring a bullpen catcher — in this case, Comadena — to the WBC.
After months of going through the process, which included paperwork and email communication with representatives from Team USA, Comadena was given the go ahead about a month ago to be a part of Mark DeRosa’s staff.
“Incredibly honored,” Comadena told me Wednesday. “I don’t think it’s totally sunk in yet. It’s gonna be a pretty surreal thing to put on the USA uniform and represent baseball at the absolute highest level for the United States. With that group of guys, it’s going to be incredible.”
Comadena and Skenes will also be joined by Kevin Roach, the Pirates’ head of major-league video, in representing the organization with Team USA.
“It’s gonna be awesome,” Skenes told me. “That’s what USA is for. People who want to wear the jersey get to wear the jersey and they understand the weight of it. Jordy obviously understands that, and Kevin’s done it before. Really fired up to have them.”
Comadena, who played his college ball at Purdue and spent three seasons in the minor leagues, will be joined on the USA coaching staff by two notable former catchers in Brian McCann (assistant coach) and David Ross (bullpen coach).
Comadena told me he’s eager to be around guys like Will Smith, a three-time World Series champion with the Dodgers, and Cal Raleigh, a Gold Glove-winning catcher with the Mariners. It’s an opportunity for him to be a resource to them, while also picking their brains and bringing back information to share with a catching group that includes Henry Davis, Joey Bart, Rafael Flores and Endy Rodriguez.
“The group of players is as impressive as it gets for the United States,” Comadena said. “The coaching staff is a wealth of knowledge, so many former players who obviously played at an incredibly high level in the big leagues. Just looking forward to meeting some new people, picking their brains and being around all those guys who operate at such a high level at all positions. Seeing how they work, seeing how they tick and watching them do their thing. It’s going to be really cool.
In turn, the knowledge Comadena shares with the catchers will ultimately benefit the pitching staff.
“They’re going to be around the best in the game,” Skenes said. “It’s a great opportunity.”
MORE PIRATES
• Despite benefitting from 31 1/3 major-league innings late last year, not much changed in Bubba Chandler’s offseason approach. Still, he attacked it with the intent of getting stronger and getting better. Most importantly, he told me he put his body in a position to potentially throw 200 innings in 2026. I’m not sure how likely that is given the team’s tendency to keep young pitchers on pitch limits, but the Pirates would certainly benefit from having three starters, including Skenes and Mitch Keller, pushing closer to or surpassing that mark. — José Negron in Bradenton, Fla.
• Chandler has a good head on his shoulders. He’s a confident pitcher, but he knows this is a humbling game. That’s why he’s approaching this spring and the 2026 season with the same level of confidence he always possesses. Nothing more, nothing less.
“The game humbles you really quickly, and I got humbled last year,” Chandler told me. “You don’t want that stuff to happen again. Just take it day by day. Who cares about tomorrow. That’s just kinda my mindset.” — José Negron
• Konnor Griffin gives Don Kelly, Pirates infield coach Chris Truby and Class AA Altoona bench coach Gary Green, a former major-league infielder, credit for helping him make his transition from the outfield to shortstop last season. The work paid off, as Griffin was a Minor League Gold Glove Award winner in his first year as a pro.
“I give a lot of credit to Truby. I mean, we were out here every single day just working on the fundamentals, the little things people don’t think about,” Griffin said. “I came into spring training last year as an outfielder, and they said, ‘Hey, we’re gonna see on the dirt and see what happens.’ So Truby believed in me, and we just stuck to that process. And it really was an awesome year, just growing every single day. Once I got to Double-A, getting to work with Greeny, he just knows the game and was able to help me think about things a little differently. What positions, where to be, how to read runners, different things like that. And then you’ve got a manager like Don Kelly who’s done it at the highest level. You don’t see a manager out here hanging with the guys, taking ground balls and stuff with the guys like he does. He just has a ton of energy. He just wants us to compete and grow every day. It’s been fun to be around wonderful coaches like that.” — José Negron
• Griffin is still sitting at 225 pounds, just as he was last year. He wanted to maintain that weight in an effort to stay quick and athletic. — José Negron
• Termarr Johnson has taken reps at third base here at Pirate City and that’s not completely out of the ordinary for the organization’s No. 7-ranked prospect, according to MLB Pipeline.
Johnson, who shifted from shortstop to second base last season, told me he’s played third ever since he was a kid and has continued to work over there the last few springs in an effort to add more versatility to his game.
“It was good bringing that kid out of me,” Johnson told me. “It was good work. It helped with some footwork stuff that I’m working through. … Just trying to keep myself available. I know, at the end of the day, I’m a baseball player. Wherever it is, just trying to make sure I learn. I have some good base knowledge at every position, so just trying to learn the ins and outs of the game.”
Johnson said, “wherever the ball is, I wanna be there,” so it’s possible third base could be an option in the future. But, as he adds to his versatility, second base still seems to be a primary focus. — José Negron
PENGUINS
• Sidney Crosby is notoriously meticulous when it comes to … anything, really. And so when the news broke earlier this season that the Olympic ice in Milan was going to be roughly three feet shorter and slightly wider than NHL ice, I frequently saw the take that if anyone was going to notice that, it would be Crosby. But even he can’t really tell the difference. Players weren’t aware at the time, but the rink in Sweden for the Global Series had the same dimensions as the Olympic sheet. Crosby told me weeks later that he had no idea that was the case, and speculated that maybe he would have been able to tell the difference depending on where they took the three feet out. Was there a foot missing from each zone, or did it all come out of the neutral zone? Crosby guessed that he would have noticed if it all came out of the neutral zone … until I told him that’s exactly what they did do for the ice in Sweden. If Crosby didn’t pick up on that, there’s no way anyone at these Olympics will. — Taylor Haase
• Has the Penguins’ strong play this season changed any preconceived notions about what this trade deadline may look like? Kind of. The goal is still absolutely to add young mid-20s players, prioritizing NHL-ready players over prospects or picks at this point. At the start of the season the concept of adding a pure rental was something that was likely out of the question, but is now something they aren’t totally opposed to. Loading up on picks makes the idea of moving any for a rental easier to take. — Taylor Haase
• The emergence of Avery Hayes, especially in relation to his chemistry with Rutger McGroarty, along with the near return of FIlip Hallander, complicates plans a little. But there isn’t an urgency to move out older players to clear out spots … because it’s just not necessary post-deadline. The 23-man roster limit goes away after the deadline, and the Penguins have ample cap space, so the only limitations would be the four non-emergency recall limit that exists for the remainder of the season, which isn’t too prohibitive. Kyle Dubas really values depth, especially if the team is to make a playoff run. So, if that means someone like Avery Hayes bumps someone like Noel Acciari to the press box at times post-deadline, that’s not something that would be the end of the world to them. — Taylor Haase
• Evgeni Malkin was one of the players who went out of town for a vacation, so contract talk probably isn’t going to be on his mind just yet. The non-Olympic players are due back on Feb. 17. — Taylor Haase
• I saw some people surprised that Arturs Silovs stopped all five shooters faced in a practice shootout against Switzerland before the men’s tournament started in Milan, but that’s not abnormal for him in a practice setting. A fun memory: Their absolute longest shootout practice this season was in Sweden, right after their shootout loss in New Jersey made it clear that they had a real problem in that area. Silovs wasn’t in the best place confidence-wise at the time surrounding shootouts, obviously, but he did well in that practice. Afterward in the locker room, Ryan Graves made a big (pretend) show in the locker room of complaining to Silovs that he doesn’t let them score in those practice shootouts, and some of his teammates joined in with the faux complaints, while Silovs sat in his stall just grinning. He had a better showing in his next real shootout (though the players in front of him failed to score, so they lost) and then he led them to their first shootout win of the season in the next opportunity. — Taylor Haase
• Eddie Johnston is still making progress from his injury, and he got a boost during this Olympic break. Before Crosby flew out to Milan he made sure to call Johnston and speak with him for about half an hour to check in and boost his spirits. It worked. — Taylor Haase
STEELERS
• I’ve previously reported in one of these Friday Insiders about how Patrick Queen was the liaison between the players and the coaching staff, particularly after the Bengals exposed Mike Tomlin’s “coverage people” plan. I have some more details on that now.
From a few accounts in the locker room, some defensive players were frustrated with the overall schematics of the defense prior to that Thursday night debacle in Cincinnati. In fact, the frustrations go all the way back to the home opener against the Seahawks. One player in particular explained to me how hard things were for them to execute on offense, then looked at the film of how easy things looked for the players on Seattle’s defense and got a little jealous.
After the Cincinnati game, several players started becoming more vocal about how things needed to change in terms of schematics. This is where Queen stepped up, taking on a leadership role he felt he needed to seize. Players on defense felt they were not put in situations that were easy to execute, leaving a very thin margin for error. And again, going back to that game against Seattle, it was explained that things don’t have to be that difficult to be effective.
While the frustrations mounted early on, Tomlin and Teryl Austin also earned a lot of respect from the players for not being rigid the rest of the season. I’m told there were still differences of opinion throughout the rest of the season, but not nearly as heated as they were early on. Tomlin, in particular, maintained the trust from his players by not being stubborn and sticking with what he initially thought would work. And when I say he thought it would work, I mean he was outright convinced the “coverage people” plan was foolproof. From multiple accounts, he was borderline arrogant about it.
But, when Tomlin stepped down at the end of the season, there’s a reason why pretty much all of his players took it so hard. Even through the disagreements and tension, Tomlin heeding his players’ opinions was thoroughly appreciated. Best way I can describe it: They felt like he was still very much in their corner and valued each of them. — Chris Halicke in Downtown
• Mike McCarthy’s staff is now finalized, as the team made official on Thursday. Last week, I reported there were more hires coming, so it shouldn’t be surprising that more were officially made. However, the timing of getting the hires done before the middle of the month is important. The Combine is rapidly approaching. In fact, everyone that’ll represent the Steelers there is leaving for Indianapolis on Feb. 23. I’m told the reason why the coaching staff was finalized now is to get everyone in house for some meetings, then head to the Combine at full strength. The worst-case scenario would have been somehow not having the staff fully filled for one of the biggest events of the offseason. They need all hands on deck in Indianapolis. — Chris Halicke
• Not exactly breaking news here, but Omar Khan and Co. are assembling their list of priorities for the roster this offseason. Regarding potential extensions, I’m told Joey Porter Jr. is the top priority. There’s a real case to be made from some fans for Nick Herbig, who’s blossomed into a player that deserves to be a starter pretty much anywhere in the NFL. But, the extension they really want to get done more than any other is Porter. It doesn’t mean that’ll be the first to be done, but it’s the one they want done, almost no matter what. — Chris Halicke
• The Steelers’ interest in a reunion with Aaron Rodgers is very, very real. This has not wavered, which is the opposite of what happened with Russell Wilson last offseason. That being said, if for whatever reason Rodgers does not return for a 22nd NFL season, one quarterback the Steelers could pursue: Malik Willis. He’s at least on their radar, but I have yet to find out just how much interest they have. If I don’t hear before I leave for Indianapolis, I’ll definitely find out there since the entire NFL world attends the Combine. — Chris Halicke
• Based off a couple things I’ve heard this week, don’t be surprised if the Steelers are a little more active in the trade market this offseason. It doesn’t mean they won’t sign players in free agency, but I’m currently inclined to believe Khan wants to add some draft capital in 2027. Pulling off a couple trades could aid in that endeavor. — Chris Halicke