After veteran starter Tim Lincecum allowed six runs against the Mariners Friday, Angels manager Mike Scioscia wouldn’t commit to Lincecum taking another turn in the rotation, MLB.com’s Alden Gonzalez writes. “Our goal is to get him right,” Scioscia says, although he adds that “we haven’t really digested some things.” The Angels had committed more strongly to Lincecum after he struggled against the Astros two starts ago.
It’s unclear what further plans the Angels might have for Lincecum if they remove him from the rotation. Speculatively, releasing him would seem to be an option, although perhaps a move to the bullpen could also be a possibility. Gonzalez notes that if Lincecum does leave the rotation, Jhoulys Chacin and Nate Smith are candidates to take his place. The Angels, of course, are dealing with a long list of pitcher injuries, with Garrett Richards, C.J. Wilson, Andrew Heaney and Nick Tropeano all on the DL.
It’s not surprising that the Angels might consider moving on from Lincecum, whose tenure with the team has not gone well, to put it mildly. Since signing in May after returning from hip surgery and debuting with the big-league team in June, he’s made nine starts and posted a 9.16 ERA in 38 1/3 innings, with 7.5 K/9 and 5.4 BB/9. He’s allowed at least four runs in all but two of those starts. His velocity is in the high 80s, about where it was last season with the Giants but down significantly from his 2008-2011 heyday.
Hate to say this, but he looks done. He doesn’t even have the stuff to be a reliever right now, even with the slight improvement in velocity that usually comes from throwing just 1 inning at a time. I’m guessing we will all be left wondering what happened between the 2011 and 2012 seasons.
It’s not just his pitch speed. It’s also movement. He has less depth and less horizontal movement on every pitch when compared to his stuff in his prime. He’s throwing slower with less movement.
if i had to venture a guess when timmy ‘lost it’, it was during a home game against the a’s. he threw a complete-game, 1-hitter against them back in 2011 but threw around 140-150 pitches. i kinda attribute that game as the ‘beginning of the end’. don’t know if it just triggered a nagging injury, fatigue, or something else.
in a perfect world, timmy gets dfa’d, signs back with the giants, and his locker room presence and situational pitching out of the ‘pen helps them win ‘one for the pinky’.
5 years too late to get Lincecum right. He’d have a tough time getting A ball hitters out for the past several seasons.with the junk he’s been throwing up to the plate.
I don’t think this signing has quite lived up to the hype.
He had one good start against the A’s and that was it.
Alex Meyer
I’ve seen this before with former top-notch pitchers who get hurt and can’t make it back. My feeling is that Tim is done. It’s been a great ride, though.
Halos were a good choice because they could afford giving this guy an opportunity, but he appears done and they are better off developing someone else for the future.
I recall that when Lincecum was drafted a lot of talent evaluators were concerned his body type – short, small frame – wouldn’t hold up to a starter’s workload. The fact that he was as good as he was for as long as he was is pretty remarkable. It turns out those scouts were right – but Lincecum had 4 outstanding seasons before he broke.
True, scouts applied the “short, small frame” label to Lincecum and many others. Tim Collins is another recent example.
However, I thought that criticism stemmed from the additional elbow and/or shoulder strain smaller pitchers may experience as a result of not having the leverage a longer torso and a bigger, stronger lower back and legs would afford someone like Seaver, Ryan, or Clemens.
Haven’t found anything including hip problems like Lincecum’s in the list of potential “short, small frame” career outcomes.
Sure, but there also could have been cascade issues, especially with Lincecum’s extreme delivery. In order to relieve the strain on his arm he may have wrecked his lower half instead.
Done
It’s sad to see such decline in a pitcher with Tim’s ability, and you have to wonder what exactly happened.
Many pitchers slow their pitches down in order to get more movement. Therefore, its assumed that more movement should come with less velocity. However, this is not the case. Tim Lincecum has less movement; less velocity and worse, less control. At this point, he’s not a pitcher; he’s a “thrower”.
Call up Alex Meyer if he is healthy. or give Nate Smith a chance
I’d be ok with a move to the pen. If Salas can be moved for an A ball lottery ticket it will open up a spot for Timmy. Let him play the year out pitching 1 inning and see how it goes. I’d like to see Nate Smith get a crack at starting but it will likely have to wait until September call-ups
Salas…the horror :0
Any pitching mechanics gurus out there who can weigh in on whether Lincecum’s hip issues have anything to do with his “small frame,” or do you suspect his injuries are more a result of unconventional mechanics?
Guarantee if they release him SF will pick him up and have him play AAA and see if thy can get him right. SF wouldn’t even give his number to anyone. He’s such loved in SF and rightly so. I truly hope he can figure it out. A new Maddox style pitcher would be great for the game.
If I were Tim, I might be thinking of adding a knuckler at this point.
thank you Angels. As much as I was looking forward to seeing him pitch in red, I know dread the days he starts. His stuff is just not there anymore. He doesn’t fool anyone anymore. Time to get rid of him and let him finish his career in San Francisco.
He has an issue with his release point and he is aiming instead of locating the pitches. Also, he is hanging too may sliders and curveballs and that has hurt him… He has velocity in the upper 80’s and with a few tweaks in his mechanics, he can get back on track… I would add another off speed pitch to his arsenal… All that can be worked out in the minors … Give the guy a chance… We have nothing to loose anyway …
And Eppler…. Please pickup Ogando before the Rangers take him….
He’s afraid to throw strikes. So he nibbles the entire time. Then falls behind every hitter and it’s a snowball effect.