I won’t spend too much time on Donnelly. He’s been terrible this year and should have been released a long time ago.
Optioning Lincoln, however, is a bit surprising. I argued when he was called up that he wasn’t ready yet (amidst shouts from other Pirates fans that he clearly was), and he’s done nothing impressive so far in the Majors.
However, the Pirates clearly felt he was ready when he got the call. He’s been pretty underwhelming with a 6.29 ERA and a 1.53 WHIP, his stuff is flat, and he’s not striking ANYONE out (only a 3.7 K/9), but I’m not sure that 44 innings is really enough time to declare him not ready.
