-P- Brad Lincoln returned from his lengthy DL stint and pitched at Hickory yesterday, and his line looks good: he allowed one run and no walks in five innings, striking out three. It's good to have him back. I just realized he turns 23 on Sunday, though. Yikes.

-P- Here's a pretty nifty (if badly formatted) Q+A with farm director Kyle Stark, who implies that Lincoln's not really completely healthy yet, but should be 100% by the end of the year. We'll see if he improves as the year goes on, but I assume the Pirates won't rush him even if he pitches well. That's probably the responsible thing, but we're now looking at a fourth overall pick who probably won't reach the majors until he's almost 25, if he ever does.