Brad Lincoln Is Heartbroken; So Are Fans

I've received a lot of email today about Brad Lincoln, most wanting to know how did it happen?

I don't know. Nor do I think the Pirates or Brad know.

Lincoln's 100+ extra innings pitched from 2004 to 2005 was a red flag and Dave Littlefield acknowledged that risk early on. The fact Lincoln was a two-way player also put him at risk because I believe he only started pitching in 2004.

It wasn't like Lincoln was the only top ten player in the 2006 draft with a red flag and Littlefield purposely drafted him. Most of the high-end pitchers in the draft had red flags. Few young players are risk free anymore.

If I was to point to any question mark within the organization regarding the way Lincoln was handled, I suppose it would have to be back July 30th in Rome, GA, when, in my opinion, Lincoln was hung out to dry by Hickory pitching coach Dave Lundquist and manager Jeff Branson. Lincoln should have been off the mound an inning or two earlier as he was laboring to throw.

I saw the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette report today that Dave Littlefield said Lincoln didn't report any elbow discomfort until October last year, so that must be the way it was. But I had heard back in early August Lincoln had reported discomfort to the team. What that discomfort was, I don't know.

But it was obvious August 6th Lincoln didn't have his typical mechanics.

Somebody in the organization made the decision for Lincoln to make his next start August 6th. Perhaps it was Littlefield, perhaps it was Lundquist and Branson on their own, perhaps it was Brian Graham, or perhaps it was Gary Ruby the roving pitching instructor?

Littlefield, Graham, and Ruby are all well known for their old school approach of having pitchers pitch through mild discomfort -- it's the organizational philosophy. Many old school teams do that. It isn't unusual.

When Lincoln took the mound August 6th, the adjustments he made to his mechanics so he could pitch through the discomfort ended up straining his oblique as a result.

The Pirates then shut him down.

It's too easy to sit back and second-guess why the Pirates ever allowed Lincoln to participate in anything more meaningful than long toss or side work after the Cinderella year he had at Houston in 2006. They knew he had a high inning tally, they knew he was a two-way player, and they knew he had an emotional year and was being asked to take it to the next level by jumping from Bradenton to Hickory.

That was a lot to ask of the young man.

As I mentioned to a couple of reporters, you also have to wonder how much pressure an organization is under to field their number one prospect in the draft each year to the fans?

Perhaps that concept should be rethought.

I was also asked if I thought the team should stop drafting pitchers in the first round. I answered that by saying, if David Price fell to us this year, would you pass on him? I sure wouldn't.

It's one thing to draft, and quite another to develop. Perhaps the Pirates have been a bit lazy and/or careless in both?

Pirate fans are also wondering why the team would spend so much money on a player like Lincoln and then not provide a babysitter to monitor every single pitch he throws, and that's a good question.

The simple answer is, they do. The organization puts their trust in the instructional rovers, coaches, and minor league development team they have to do just that.

But the team also needs to hear from the player.

We may never know what Lincoln may have told the organization about any discomfort he felt after that July 30th start, but you have to believe the young man was under a lot of self-pressure to succeed.

It's only to be expected.

For now, Pirate fans should be thankful Dave Littlefield made the right decision to send Andrew McCutchen to Altoona this year allowing him to continue his development and growth without adding any additional pressure on him.

We know Lincoln is a lot more heartbroken than we are as fans so we should also be thankful that he was seen by the best doc in the US, and pray he has a speedy recovery and a speedy fastball.

For now, that's all that matters.

Second-guessing will just muddy the water even more so we'll leave that to the men who pay the bills at 115 Federal Street because it's their own money they are throwing away year-after-year.