If there’s going to be a fifth starter competition for the Pirates this spring, it’s likely going to be between Charlie Morton and Brad Lincoln (I remain convinced that Scott Olsen’s injury, left-handedness, and not-goodness will put him in the bullpen). Since Morton is out of options and Olsen is on a big league contract, Lincoln will have to pitch well enough for the Pirates to justify letting go of one of those two.
That means that Lincoln’s going to have to be pretty great this spring, pretty much from the get-go and on top of that, Morton or Olsen will probably have to be a walking disaster. Lincoln will at least get his chance; he’ll be taking the mound right after Morton on Saturday for the Grapefruit League opener against the Rays. At the very least, I’m just interested to see how he holds up after taking what seemed to be such a huge step backwards after his promotion last year.
