There are plenty of interesting players to take a look at in the Pirates system. One such player is pitcher Brad Lincoln. He is interesting in that he has a long story in the organization and has not done much at the big league level. With the Pirates needing more pitching, could Lincoln step up?
The former first rounder has struggled to say the least in the Pirates organization since being drafted. Over work might have led to injuries early on and really ineffectiveness has hurt him since. Looking over his stats the ERA does not jump off the stat sheet, neither does hits or walks per 9. The WHIP does not either. If it were not for him being a first round pick, you really would have to wonder where the hype was.
That being said Lincoln has made it to AAA and the majors the past two seasons. He has had varying cups of coffee in the bigs the past two seasons, each with mixed results. 2010 was a bit of a disaster for Lincoln as he gave up a ton runs and hits.
Last season was no walk in the park, if him either, though he did drop his runs and hits allowed. His walks rose slightly, though so too did his strikeout rate.
Looking ahead to 2012, Lincoln is going to be 27 and we have basically seen his physical peak. It is not going to probably get much better for him. I have to wonder if now is a good time to ditch the starting and hope to make him a reliever. Granted there are plenty of relievers already, but Lincoln's stuff might work better out of the pen, where he can better utilize his fastball and breaking ball.
While the team might not exactly be thinking that, hoping that keeping him as a starter is better for depth, I would think a move to the bullpen would benefit him in the same way that the move benefited Daniel McCutchen.
Either way 2012 is a put up year for Lincoln. If he does not show marked improvement he could be on his way out or find himself lost in the shuffle of graduating arms.
1 comments:
A pitcher's peak is ages 28-32. With Lincoln's development delayed 18 months because of Tommy John, it would be foolish to "fold his hand" and make him a reliever at age 27. He has much more value as a starter, something the 2012 Pirates are woefully short on.
His impact as a reliever would be minimal——his value as a starter, if he steps it up in this last year of development, is immense.
This is Lincoln's Jeff Karstens/Ross Ohlendorf year . . . . either he steps up and becomes a valuable starter to the team like Karstens—maybe starting the year as 6th starter as Karstens did last year—or we say bye-bye to him at the end of the year like Ohlendorf.
We don't need no stinkin' badges/relievers!
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