Lincoln to Lynchburg

This happened yesterday, but Brad Lincoln got the call up to Lynchburg yesterday. I'm guessing that the team had a set number of innings they wanted to see from him at Hickory and they moved him along once he hit that number. He pitched very well in his first few starts, but not so well since then (besides his Matt Capps-like control). The most logical reason for him to be moving up at this point is that as a top draft pick that's 23 years old, he simply doesn't belong in low-level Class A. He's either hit an inning number or convinced the Pirates that he's healthy, and so they're moving him along.

Actually, I wouldn't be surprised to see him moved to AA before this season ends, even if he struggles at Lynchburg. Remember that in a draft that was pretty deep with pitching, Lincoln was regarded by a some people to be the best college pitching available that year and most prospect lists had him among the top two or three. He'd likely be in AAA if he hadn't gotten hurt, so maybe we should view his starts in the low minors as rehab starts and keep in mind that the Pirates are probably looking for things other than obvious results with Lincoln as they bring him along this year.