Last night in Hagerstown and after a two year wait,I finally was able to see the Pi
rates top pick in the 2006 draft-Brad Lincoln.Lincoln dominated the Suns in his 6 and two third inning outing and picked up the victory in the 4-1 Hickory win.
Lincoln allowed 4 hits,struck out seven and walked two Suns in what was one of his better starts all season.
I was out of GA exile for one evening (thanks Luke),so I was able to check radar guns and pitch count was much easier to keep track of.
Lincoln was consistently throwing around 93 MPH and I was really impressed with his 12 to 6 curve,which is what was called a "dropball" when I was a kid.
I thought that Lincoln might have been as impressive as any pitcher here this season and showed glimpses of the talent that he showed at the University of Houston,which gives some hope for the future of the 4th overall pick.
A few other notes on Lincoln and the Crawdads over the first two games thus far.
Lincoln needs to continue his development as he turns 24 early next year.
I am interested to see if Lincoln starts next season at High A Lynchburg or do the Pirates attempt to speed his development by skipping the Hillcats and starting him at AA Altoona and add Lincoln and (presumably) Daniel Moskos to the Curve rotation.
Lincoln is listed at 6 foot in height,but I see no way that this is true.
He appears to be 5"10 at best.
Maybe I just caught them on good nights against a depleted Hagerstown lineup,but Lincoln and Duke Welker both looked awfully good in the series.
But looking at the overall numbers,the weakened Hub City bats might be just as big of culprits as Lincoln and (especially) Welker.
Lincoln was also pretty good with the pen as well as he signed several cards (offering a tongue in cheek "You guys aren't selling these are ya" with a smile along with a ball as well.
Hickory does not give much hope with the lumber,except for one-third baseman Matthew Hague.
Hague was a ninth round pick from Oklahoma State in the (2008!) draft and has already accelerated past State College and from what I have seen might even speed by Hickory.
The only problem with that is the Pirates appear committed to keeping Jim Negrych at Lynchburg all season and therefore freezing Hague in the SAL.
Everything Hague hits is hard,although it does appear that he is a bit pull happy.
Third round pick Jordy Mercer is struggling at the plate and seems to be pressing a bit.
Mercer also looked to struggle with the soft stuff against the Suns and considering that Hagerstown has no pitcher that throws especially hard,I had some concerns.
But I have no final judgement on Mercer,sometimes college guys are just wore down and struggle in early pro exposure.
Todays game was suspended after three,so the game will be completed tomorrow and then followed up with a seven inning finale.
Two very heavy crowds for the first two games of this series and the Saturday game was clearly the largest crowd of the Hagerstown campaign.
But todays rainout crowd was a humbling one as it did not look to be more than a few hundred scattered through the Muni.
Suns third sacker Stephen King was ejected from another game in the Saturday game.
I really hope King can control this temper a bit and succeed as he has loads of talent and is a really nice guy off the field,but these issues with umpiring are going to plague him as he climbs the ladder if he is not careful.
Bagofhealthandpolitics has a take on King and the game from the Hagerstown perspective.
Until tomorrow with bullpen notes and Pirate catchup!
Photo Credit
Lincoln:John Setzler Jr
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