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Sue Ogrocki, Associated Press Houston's Brad Lincoln will probably be the Pirates' No. 1 pick in today's amateur draft. Click photo for larger image.
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And they'll hope Lincoln will be just as effective as a starter as another Houston right-hander was for them in the early 1990s.
That would be Doug Drabek, who won the Cy Young award in 1990 and was 81-50 in his final five seasons with the Pirates.
"He's good," Drabek said of Lincoln. "He's a bulldog guy on the mound. He grinds it out. He gets after it. He doesn't want to get beat. He [was] a real big plus for them."
Houston, which lost its two games in the NCAA tournament, finished 39-22. Lincoln, 21, was 12-2 with a 1.69 earned run average.
His 2-1 loss to Wichita State Friday ended his 11-decision winning streak.
The opposition batted .198 against him.
Lincoln, 6 feet, 200 pounds, throws his fastball comfortably at 93 mph, has a good curveball and is quickly developing a changeup.
"His fastball has life down in the zone," said Ed Creech, the Pirates' scouting director. "His curve is an absolute 'yacker.' He has a good, solid changeup. And he's a wonderful competitor."
Lincoln also is a pretty fair first baseman. A left-handed batter, he hit .295 with 14 home runs and 53 RBIs in 61 games.
"He played a position every day when he wasn't pitching," Creech said. "When he concentrates [solely] on pitching, the sky may be the limit for him."
Lincoln began his rise to the top rungs of the first round with a standout, confidence-boosting summer in the Cape Cod League in 2005.
"[Before that], he was like a lot of guys," Houston coach Rayner Noble told the Houston Chronicle. "He went to the mound with great stuff but didn't really know if it was good enough."
The Pirates think it is, and they'll have that stuff in their minor-league system if Kansas City, Colorado and Tampa Bay follow the draft projections.
The Royals have the first overall pick. Most baseball people think the Royals will take University of North Carolina left-hander Andrew Miller, the consensus top pick overall.
Colorado is leaning toward Long Beach State infielder Evan Longoria and also has interest in Stanford right-hander Greg Reynolds.
Tampa Bay probably will select whichever of those two remains.
Then it's the Pirates' turn. For them to have a shot at Miller, Creech indicated, "things would have to blow up" between Reynolds and Lincoln.
If Lincoln would wind up being picked by the Rockies or Devil Rays, the Pirates would strongly consider picking Reynolds.
Reynolds, a 6-7, 225-pound junior, is 7-5 with a 3.36 ERA. He moved up the first-round ladder by beating Washington's highly regarded Tim Lincecum, 5-0, May 12.
A week later, however, UCLA pounded Reynolds in an 8-1 victory. Reynolds allowed 10 hits and six earned runs in six innings in a start that gave scouts second thoughts.
Still, Reynolds is high on the Pirates' draft board.
"We've liked him all year," Creech said. "He's a guy we've always kept an eye on. He has an above-average fastball, an above-average curveball. A solid changeup. And he throws strikes."
Creech and his staff have focused diligently on all the aforementioned players, plus others, as their possible first-round pick.
"That's a pretty daggone good group -- the top five or six players," Creech said. "We haven't missed too many starts by any of those guys. Of course, anything can happen -- and it usually does."
One thing seems certain.
"You want to be right on the big-money guy," Creech said.
It could cost the Pirates as much as $3 million to sign their first pick.
Last year's fourth pick overall, third baseman Ryan Zimmerman out of the University of Virginia, received a $2,975,000 bonus from the Washington Nationals and was in the big leagues by September.
The Pirates took college pitchers with their first pick in three consecutive drafts, beginning with John Van Benschoten in 2001.
Bryan Bullington followed in '02. Paul Maholm was their first selection in '03.
Only Maholm is on track toward becoming an effective major-league starter. Van Benschoten and Bullington, who combined have pitched 30 innings for the Pirates, are in extended spring training rehabbing from injuries.
Pirates manager Jim Tracy and first base coach John Shelby will have some of their attention focused on the draft today.
Tracy's middle son, Chad, a catcher from Pepperdine, will be a high-round pick today. His youngest son, Mark, a high school senior, could be drafted, too. And his oldest son, Brian, was taken by the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2002 but opted for California-Santa Barbara. Brian is draft-eligible again.
Shelby's son, John III, is a standout second baseman for the University of Kentucky.
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Pirates draft prospects at a glance |
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