The Pirates have cut pitchers Brad Lincoln and Daniel McCutchen, sending them both to Indianapolis.
Lincoln provides the Pirates with a reasonable backup plan in case one of their starters gets injured, but they don’t need him right now, and it’s probably better to have him starting in Indianapolis than pitching out of the bullpen in Pittsburgh, so that he can be ready to start for the Pirates if needed.
McCutchen is a fungible swingman type of pitcher. As with Lincoln, he’ll probably end up with the Pirates at some point this year, but he isn’t needed right now. He put up superficially good numbers in the first half of last season, but his poor strikeout rate (47 strikeouts in 84.2 innings) suggests that he doesn’t bring a whole lot to the table, beyond an ability to eat innings in a relief role, when needed.
The Pirates still have 29 players in camp, including two in A.J. Burnett and Charlie Morton who are likely to be sent to the disabled list. They need to get down to 25 in time for Opening Day.
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