Kuzul

A former CY Young winner, a former World Series MVP, a solid starting righty and this year’s top international prospect all have something in common: They’re all still available as MLB free agents.

Pitchers and catchers report in two days, but there are still some big names who don’t know where they will be playing in 2016. Teams looking to add a piece before the season still have a chance to make a splash with one of these players.

There are deals that are supposedly already done but have yet to be signed. Other players are still surveying their options. Some of the remaining free agents will help a team’s chances to compete this year. Others will be an investment for the future.

Veteran right-hander Yovani Gallardo was very close to a three-year deal with the Orioles as of Feb. 10, according to Buster Olney. However, the deal has yet to get done.

Gallardo is probably the best remaining starting pitcher on the market, but some have questioned if the prospective deal is worth it for Baltimore. Camden Chat, the Orioles’ SB Nation site, argues that it is.

Jacob Kornhauser at Call to the Pen goes a step further.  

He says the deal needs to get done—and soon—if Baltimore wants to be competitive in the AL East.

Another pitcher, Tim Lincecum, is supposed to have a showcase this month in front of multiple teams to demonstrate the progress he’s made since his hip surgery in September, reports MLB Network’s Jon Heyman.

It will be clearer where Lincecum is likely to go after that showcase. Giants executive vice president Brian Sabean told Ann Killion of the San Francisco Chronicle that it’s a “long shot” Lincecum returns to the Giants. His absence has already been felt by the fans.

Free agent third baseman David Freese is weighing his options as well. After batting a career-low .257 with the Los Angeles Angels last season, he’s looking for a fresh start.

MLB.com’s Anthony Castrovince told 92.3 the Fan in Cleveland on Monday that he thinks Freese could end up with the Cleveland Indians thanks to a lack of openings at third base around the league.

Braves president of baseball operations John Hart told MLB network radio yesterday that Atlanta intends to be active in pursuing international free agents.

ESPN reports that Atlanta is supposed to be one of the main suitors for Lazaro Armenteros, the No. 1 prospect in Cuba. The report also says Armenteros worked out with the Braves last week.

One AL scout compared the 16-year-old Cuban outfielder’s combination of speed and power to Willie Mays and Bo Jackson, Bob Nightingale of USA Today reports.

The uncertainty around these players will make the first part of spring training interesting. Depending on where they land, they may drastically change the outlook for the regular season as well.

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Tim Lincecum has spent the duration of his big league career in an orange and black uniform. So there would be a certain poetry if he ditched the San Francisco Giants and flew to the Baltimore Orioles as he attempts to come back from an extended decline and recent surgery.

Uniform colors, however, aren’t enough. A move to the Orioles—and the American League East in general—would be a potential disaster as Lincecum looks to rebuild his value and resurrect his career.

As Eduardo A. Encina of the Baltimore Sun recently reported, the O’s have “expressed interest” in Lincecum along with several other clubs. Lincecum, Encina added, has yet to hold a long-promised showcase but was set to begin throwing off a mound.

Until we see what he can do with a baseball in his hand, it’s all guesswork and conjecture. But it makes sense the Orioles would be interested after losing Wei-Yin Chen to free agency and failing to sign any of the market’s impact starting pitchers so far.

Assuming Lincecum shows enough to warrant a job somewhere, however, he should cast his gaze beyond Camden Yards.

Why? Well, for starters, it was the third-most hitter-friendly stadium in baseball last season, according to ESPN.com’s Park Factors statistic.

And the AL East in general is brutal. Boston’s Fenway Park checked in as the fourth-best hitters’ yard, and Yankee Stadium came in at No. 10. That’s not even mentioning the Toronto Blue Jays, MLB‘s highest-scoring squad last season.

Lincecum has never pitched at Camden and has limited experience against all AL East teams. But he hasn’t fared well against AL opponents in his career, as he owns a 4.10 ERA in 171.1 interleague innings. 

That’s not to say a move to the Junior Circuit would spell automatic doom for the slender, 31-year-old right-hander. But if he’s hoping to optimize his chances of success and a bounce-back payday next winter, he needs to pick the right destination.

Once upon a time, not so long ago, The Freak was the most feared pitcher in the game, a two-time National League Cy Young Award winner who surpassed 200 strikeouts and 200 innings in every season between 2008 and 2011.

With his tightly coiled mechanics and slight build, there was always a question of how long he would last. The answer came beginning in 2012, as his velocity cratered and his ERA climbed.

He showed flashes of his old self, tossing no-hitters against the San Diego Padres in 2013 and 2014 and making memorable appearances out of the bullpen during the Giants’ 2012 World Series run.

But the overall trajectory was downward with momentum, culminating in a season-ending September hip procedure.

Lincecum’s father, Chris, who engineered his son’s unique delivery and has been his longtime coach and confidant, said Tim met with his surgeon, Dr. Marc Philippon, and was told his hip looks “perfect,” per Rael Enteen of KNBR.com.

If that’s true, and especially if Lincecum can regain some command and zip on his fastball, it’s still possible he can be an above-average pitcher. At the very least, he’s worth a flier for someone.

Which brings us back to Baltimore. Sure, if the Orioles are willing to dazzle Lincecum with gobs of guaranteed cash, he should consider pouncing.

But his goal next season is to serve notice to the rest of the league that he’s back and deserving of a multiyear commitment. To do that, he should go to a pitchers’ paradise if possible.

Like, say, AT&T Park? Yes, the Giants rotation appears full with Madison Bumgarner, free-agent additions Johnny Cueto and Jeff Samardzija, veteran Jake Peavy and Matt Cain, Lincecum’s former co-ace. Second-year hurler Chris Heston may be in the mix as well.

But general manager Bobby Evans said San Francisco “will be watching” Lincecum’s showcase, per Enteen. And while a relief assignment might not be Lincecum’s first choice, Peavy and Cain both missed time with injuries last season. A rotation slot could open up at some point on the only club Lincecum has ever known.

Then again, as McCovey Chronicles’ Grant Brisbee pointed out:

It’s the Tim Lincecum paradox. If he pitches well enough for the Giants to consider altering their plans substantially, there will be other teams who can offer more money or more guarantees about playing time. If he pitches about as well as we’re used to, the Giants wouldn’t have an obvious roster spot for him anyway. 

If he doesn’t go back to the Bay Area, Lincecum should consider a club like the San Diego Padres or his hometown Seattle Mariners. Anywhere but the cauldron of clout that is the AL East, where ERAs go to balloon.

If he’s desperate, fine. But if the surgery really did renew Lincecum’s game and thus offer him a choice of destinations, he should opt for one where his talents will play the strongest—uniform colors be damned.

All statistics courtesy of Baseball-Reference.com unless otherwise noted.

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Former Cy Young winner Tim Lincecum wants to prove that he can still pitch at the major league level and is drawing interest from numerous teams.

Continue for updates.

Multiple Teams Interested in Lincecum

Monday, Jan. 25

Jon Heyman of MLB Network reported that the San Diego Padres and Miami Marlins are “among many teams” taking an interest in Lincecum.

Lincecum to Have Throwing Showcase

Saturday, Jan. 23

The former San Francisco Giants star pitcher is looking to host a throwing showcase in early February in hopes of landing a deal with a major league team, according to Heyman.

Lincecum’s Injury Clouds Market for Former Ace

Lincecum underwent hip surgery Sept. 3 and is one of the more interesting players available on the open market. A four-time All-Star, Lincecum has not recorded an ERA under 3.00 since 2011. Though he went 7-4, he recorded a 4.13 ERA in 2015.

“He’s throwing every day and says he’s doing great,” Lincecum’s agent Rick Thurman said, per John Shea of the San Francisco Chronicle. “He’s got no instability in his hip, and he’s enthusiastic about his progress.”

Lincecum will turn 32 years old in June, and one major concern could be his velocity, especially since he is coming off hip surgery. His best pitches have been of the off-speed variety, but his fastball and command are question marks going forward.

He’s a veteran arm who showed in 2015 that he can still win games, and he’ll have a chance to show other clubs that he can still perform at a high level in February.

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Baseball, like all sports, is a cruel mistress. Sometimes she smiles, sometimes she frowns. But eventually, the game grinds everyone—including the greats—into oblivion.

Baseball also offers shots at redemption, however; opportunities for an unexpected second act. In fact, successful comebacks happen nearly every year, though they’re hard to predict and even harder to chart.

That’s our purpose here. To examine the cases of Tim Lincecum and Cliff Lee—two fallen MLB aces trying to claw their way back to relevance—and determine which one offers the better risk/reward for a club in need.

Let’s begin with Lincecum. The slender right-hander hasn’t posted a sub-4.00 ERA since 2011 and underwent season-ending hip surgery in September.

Once upon a time, however, The Freak was the most feared pitcher in the game, a two-time National League Cy Young Award winner who eclipsed 200 strikeouts and 200 innings in every season between 2008 and 2011 for the San Francisco Giants.

With his whiplash-inducing mechanics and slim build, there was always a question of how long Lincecum would last. And the answer came beginning in 2012, as his velocity cratered and his ERA ballooned.

Lincecum occasionally showed flashes of his old self, twirling no-hitters against the San Diego Padres in 2013 and 2014 and making memorable appearances out of the bullpen during the Giants’ 2012 World Series run.

But his decline was as steady as it was steep. He’s still just 31 years old, yet it’s worth wondering if his days as an effective big league pitcher are over.

The first clue will come soon. Lincecum is set to hold a showcase for prospective suitors sometime in January, per Rael Enteen of KNBR.com.

Lincecum’s father, Chris, who helped develop his son’s unorthodox delivery and has been his longtime coach and confidant, said Tim met with his surgeon, Dr. Marc Philippon, and was told his hip looks “perfect,” per Enteen.

Whether that will translate to zip on his fastball and increased control, two things that abandoned Lincecum during his slide to mediocrity, remains to be seen.

After performing the operation, Dr. Philippon sounded an optimistic note, per MLB Network’s Jon Heyman, then writing for CBS Sports:

I think it’s going to help tremendously to regain the velocity on his pitches and the (control) of them. If you cannot control the hips – that’s what generates the power – it’s difficult to get full motion.

Every pitcher is different. In his style of pitching he uses the hips a lot. We’re going to make sure he returns perfectly balanced.

If you’re a Freak fanatic who fondly recalls the days when the shaggy ace used to carve up opposing hitters with high-90s heat and his darting changeup, that has to bring at least a tentative smile to your face.

OK, let’s switch gears to Lee for a moment. While you have to go back a few years to locate vintage Lincecum, Lee was an All-Star and top-10 NL Cy Young vote-getter as recently as 2013, when he posted a 2.87 ERA with 222 strikeouts in 222.2 innings for the Philadelphia Phillies.

But the veteran southpaw was limited by elbow issues in 2014 and missed the entire 2015 season. Now, he’s gunning for a return and has drawn “significant interest from a multitude of teams,” according to his agent, Darek Braunecker, per ESPN.com’s Andrew Marchand.

Lee was the second-most valuable pitcher by FanGraphs WAR between 2009 and 2013, behind only Justin Verlander, so it’s easy to see why suitors would come sniffing around. And it’s possible a year off resolved his arm issues.

As with Lincecum, we won’t know for certain until we see Lee in action.

Based on what we know now, though, let’s return to the original question: Which pitcher lands in a better place on the risk/reward spectrum? If you were going to take a flier on one, who would it be?

The argument for Lee centers mainly on his more recent success. Just a couple of seasons ago, he was one of the top left-handers in baseball. He also opted against surgery, which doesn’t erase concerns about his health but does simplify the equation. Either a year-plus of rest made a significant difference or it didn’t.

With Lincecum, as usual, there are more moving parts. His doctor’s rosy prognosis aside, this hip surgery is something of an enigma. It’s fun to fantasize about Big-Time Timmy Jim cranking back the clock and emerging as we all remember him. That seems a touch too fairy-tale to be real, though.

Then again, the idea of Lee, who turns 38 in August, rebounding from major elbow and forearm problems and producing over a full 162-game grind is semi-far-fetched in its own right.

All things considered, we’ll give a slight edge to Lincecum based almost solely on age. He’s nearly seven years Lee’s junior and has about 500 fewer MLB innings on his arm. That’s not to say old guys can’t succeed, but when you’re digging in against Father Time, youth offers an edge.

Assuming there are no significant setbacks, it’s probable both players will land spring training invites at least, and possibly guaranteed contracts featuring a low base value larded with incentives. In November, Heyman predicted $5 million guaranteed for Lincecum.

Braunecker said Lee is holding out for the “perfect fit,” per MLB Network Radio. Presumably that means a team built to win now and maybe near his home in Arkansas. That could foretell a return to the Lone Star State, either with his old club, the Texas Rangers, or the Houston Astros. If he’s willing to go north, the New York Yankees also appear to be a logical landing spot.

As for Lincecum, the sentimental bet is on San Francisco, the only franchise he’s ever known. The Giants added Jeff Samardzija and Johnny Cueto to a rotation that looks full, but general manager Bobby Evans said San Francisco “will be watching” Lincecum’s showcase, per Enteen. It’s possible Lincecum’s future is as a bullpen arm anyway, so there could be a fit.

As a baseball fan, you should root for both of these comebacks to succeed, because comebacks are cool. The odds are stacked against it, as they always are. Still, sometimes baseball smiles.

Now, Lincecum and Lee are hoping that smile is aimed in their direction.

All statistics courtesy of Baseball-Reference.com unless otherwise noted.

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Tim Lincecum was never supposed to last this long. But he was never supposed to go away so soon.

He was too small and too funky, and he was never going to endure. Then he was a two-time Cy Young winner and a World Series champion, and he was going to be a San Francisco Giant forever.

He scared away so many scouts that five college pitchers were drafted ahead of him in 2006 (Greg Reynolds? Brad Lincoln? Brandon Morrow?). But he convinced the Giants to the point that they offered him $100 million for five years (he said no).

Lincecum never fit into any standard model, and he always defied every prediction.

And that’s why I’m still not convinced that the hip surgery that ended Lincecum’s 2015 season will also end his Giants career.

There’s every reason to believe that it will. Lincecum will be a free agent at season’s end, and while the reports Thursday were that he’ll fully recover by spring training, there’s no way the Giants can sign him for anything close to the $18 million he made this season in the last campaign of a two-year, $35 million contract.

No one else will, either, but it’s often harder for a player to stay in the same place with a drastically reduced salary.

Giants general manager Bobby Evans wouldn’t even discuss the issue when he spoke to reporters Thursday, according to Andrew Baggarly of the San Jose Mercury News.

“The timing to discuss that will have to come later,” Evans said.

In one way, you could hardly blame the Giants for saying goodbye now. As much of a bargain as Lincecum was at the start of his career, the Giants have paid him $75 million for a 39-42 record and a 4.68 ERA over the last four years (if you prefer modern stats, they’ve paid the same money for minus-2.7 WAR, per Baseball-Reference.com).

It’s hard to know how much that lack of success was related to the health issues that eventually led to Thursday’s surgery. Way back in April 2012, I wrote about “whispers around the game” that Lincecum’s hip was bothering him, and that he couldn’t drive toward the plate with his usual strength.

Lincecum denied it then, and Baggarly wrote Thursday that any issues before this year were more stiffness than pain. While Lincecum’s overall numbers haven’t come close to matching what he did from 2007 to 2011, he did throw no-hitters in both 2013 and 2014.

And when the Giants moved him to the bullpen in the 2012 postseason, Lincecum pitched effectively and helped the Giants to their second World Series crown.

He barely pitched in the 2014 playoffs (1.2 innings in one World Series game), but Lincecum will still go down as one of the most recognizable and most significant figures from the best times the Giants franchise has ever had.

Maybe it’s over for him now, at least in San Francisco. I’m not convinced.

Lincecum is still just 31. Hip surgeries are serious, but they don’t need to be career-ending, as Alex Rodriguez and Troy Tulowitzki are proving. Dr. Marc Philippon, who did their surgeries, also did Lincecum’s.

He told the Giants that the surgery was successful, with a five-month recovery timetable, per Baggarly. Giants athletic trainer Dave Groeschner told reporters that Lincecum will begin the rehab process Friday.

“Nobody wants to have surgery,” Groeschner said. “He did everything he could to try to avoid it. It’s just, he wants to get back to being Tim Lincecum.”

I can see it. I can see him in that same Giants uniform, perhaps with the hair grown all the way out again. I can see him on that same mound, defying every prediction one more time.

I can see it, and it turns out I’m not alone. When Baggarly and other reporters approached Buster Posey on Thursday to ask about Lincecum’s time as a Giant, Posey refused to describe it in the past tense.

“It’s hard to sit here and share memories because I fully expect him to be back,” Posey told them.

I’m not as confident as that, but I can see it.

Or maybe I just want to see it.

Danny Knobler covers Major League Baseball as a national columnist for Bleacher Report.

Follow Danny on Twitter and talk baseball. 

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San Francisco Giants starting pitcher Tim Lincecum was forced to exit Saturday’s game against the Colorado Rockies after being struck in the arm by a line drive, suffering a right forearm contusion.

Continue for updates.

Lincecum Leaves After Less Than 2 Innings

Saturday, June 27

After the Giants beat the Rockies 7-5, manager Bruce Bochy said x-rays on Lincecum were negative, but he may miss time since the injury occurred to his pitching arm, per Alex Pavlovic of CSN Bay Area. Pavlovic added Lincecum expects to be sore for a few days. 

“I was lucky”, said Lincecum about not suffering a worse injury, per San Jose Mercury News reporter Andrew Baggarly.  

Lincecum allowed three earned runs in 1.2 innings while giving up four hits and walking two. He quickly made his way back to the dugout after the play, according to Baggarly.

Lincecum was already struggling this month heading into this start. He had a 6.62 ERA in four outings and gave up five runs in less than two innings his last time out against the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Now it’s unclear when he’ll take the mound again for San Francisco. The fact that he didn’t at least try to see if he could pitch through the pain isn’t a positive sign for his status.   

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SAN FRANCISCO — One night after Madison Bumgarner lit up AT&T Park by taking a perfect game into the eighth inning, Tim Hudson was electric. Stretch-run energy buzzed through the Giants clubhouse in that old, familiar way.

“This is the fun time of year,” Buster Posey said after blasting the second walk-off homer of his career. “We’re fortunate to be fighting for the division.   

“A lot of us know what we’re capable of doing if we do get into the playoffs.”

Mmmhmm.   

But this is a tricky team to decipher, one of the most difficult to peg of manager Bruce Bochy’s 20-year managerial career.

“I’d say so,” Bochy agreed in that gruff, bear-like voice that has directed so many past winners.

No doubt, key injuries have derailed the Giants. He might not be a marquee name nationally, but it is no coincidence that San Francisco’s swan dive from those heady days of leading the NL West by 9.5 games (June 8) coincided with leadoff hitter Angel Pagan’s two-month absence with a back injury.

Brandon Belt’s frequent trips to the DL, Hector Sanchez’s concussion and the Giants’ decision to not add significant payroll at the trading deadline this year have opened some holes and limited their ability to plug others, stretching a thin lineup to the point of breaking.

But where the old Giants magic is really lacking is on the mound, with Matt Cain out for the season, Tim Lincecum in a funk, Sergio Romo barred from closing and a rotation that is tied for eighth in the NL with a 3.68 ERA.

Bottom line: Unlike the old days here, San Francisco’s pitching is no longer good enough to cover lineup shortcomings.

Which is why this week’s hit parade of Bumgarner, Hudson and Yusmeiro Petit, who set a major league record by retiring his 46th consecutive hitter Thursday afternoon, at least offered encouragement.

“It’s been a roller coaster, no question,” said Hudson, 39, now 9-9 with a 2.90 ERA. “Anytime you lose one of your top rotation guys.”

“He gets that blood-in-the-water sensation whenever he gets a lead,” reliever Jeremy Affeldt said of Cain. “He’s not going to lose it.”

The Giants staff has already lost enough this season.

Cain has been as big a fixture at AT&T as that ginormous Coca-Cola bottle beyond the left field stands. He made 30 or more starts in eight consecutive seasons before he had to pull the plug this summer after 15. Surgery to remove bone chips and have some bone spurs cleaned up was done earlier this month. Given his workload over the years, it could have been worse. Much worse.

As for Lincecum, the Giants should be deeply concerned with him given his 9.49 ERA over his past six starts. Everybody agrees a time out is in order.

“Just trying to take it slow,” Lincecum said. “Day by day and see where it goes.”

The immensely likeable Lincecum can be easily derailed, which is leading some to wonder whether the absence of Sanchez, who likely is out for the season with a concussion, has sent him spinning off his axis. Remember, it took Lincecum a bit to gather his wits when the Giants traded one of his favorite catchers, Bengie Molina, in 2010 to clear space for Posey.

“It’s a good question,” Bochy said of the Sanchez-Lincecum connection. “It’s a hard one to answer because I know Tim got used to throwing to Hector. Nothing against the kid, [Andrew] Susac, who has done a nice job. But whether that did play into a part of Tim’s struggles, I don’t know.”

It is not the only mystery Bochy and the Giants must solve. The phenomenal pitching that carried them to World Series wins in 2010 and ’12 is fading. This year’s rotation, as noted, is tied for eighth in the NL in ERA after finishing 13th (4.37) in 2013.

That may be an improvement, but from ’09 to ’12, Giants starters never ranked worse than fifth in the league, and they ranked either second or third in three of those four seasons.

Still, as of Thursday, the Giants are a playoff team. Though they trail the Dodgers by 4.5 games in the NL West, they doggedly cling to the NL’s second wild-card slot, 1.5 games ahead of the Braves.

This is all part of why Posey uses the word “fortunate” when describing his team’s positioning right now.

Veteran Jake Peavy was acquired from Boston to pitch. With Cain out, he’s a necessity. Petit has replaced Lincecum in the rotation—for how long, Bochy cannot yet say. He simply doesn’t know. The veteran manager, whose 1,600th career win Wednesday moved him past Hall of Famer Tommy Lasorda to No. 19 on the all-time list, has had success in the past shuffling the rotation with guys such as Barry Zito and Ryan Vogelsong.

“When you get diminishing returns, you’ve got to change it up,” Bochy said, and so he has.

Scouts were still raving about Bumgarner’s dominance a day after he throttled the Rockies. Hudson, Petit…things are beginning to perk back up around San Francisco. Every day left on the schedule is another day for the Giants to minimize the damage done by their 10-16 June, 12-14 July and their 12-24 record over their past 36 home games.

As Affeldt said, “Baseball can turn around in a hurry if you don’t tuck your tail between your legs. If you get knocked down seven times, you’ve got to get up that eighth time.”

Scott Miller covers Major League Baseball as a national columnist for Bleacher Report. He has over two decades of experience covering MLB, including 14 years as a national baseball columnist at CBSSports.com.

Follow Scott on Twitter and talk baseball @ScottMillerBbl.

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The San Francisco Giants‘ 2014 regular season is winding down and has just over four weeks remaining.

As the Giants scratch and claw to make the playoffs, general manager Brian Sabean must also begin planning for the future. Sabean will have several critical decisions to make, as he builds the roster for the 2015 season.

The Giants have five key free agents about whom they must make decisions. These include Pablo Sandoval, Michael Morse, Jake Peavy, Ryan Vogelsong and Sergio Romo. 

At approximately $150 million, the Giants have one of the top payrolls in Major League Baseball, according to baseballprospectus.com. It remains to be seen how much, if anything, the Giants ownership group will allow Sabean to increase this number for the 2015 season.

Sabean will need to bolster the pitching staff and try to bring in more consistent bats this winter. If he does not get the buy-in from ownership to increase the payroll, this task will be almost impossible.

Let’s take a look at some of the potential moves Sabean and the Giants could make prior to the 2015 season. The final outcome will be largely based on the money.

All stats courtesy of baseball-reference.com.

All contract and free agency data courtesy of baseballprospectus.com.

Begin Slideshow

At one point this season, there was hope. A lot of it.

Tim Lincecum was on a roll, and his two-year, $35 million contract that was completely panned when it was announced looked like it might have some value after all. The San Francisco Giants had shot to the best record in the league and were being talked about as the best team in baseball.

Lincecum’s 10-start run, with one extra-inning relief appearance tacked on at the end, was a factor. His 2.89 ERA, .187 BABIP and second-career no-hitter between May 28 and July 22 had the Giants wondering if this was a return to Lincecum’s previous form at a time when Matt Cain was injured and Madison Bumgarner was starting to struggle.

Turns out it was all way too good to be a true revival for The Freak.

Lincecum’s ERA in his last six starts is 9.49, and opposing hitters are hitting .341/.422/.622 against him since the All-Star break. All the reasons the contract was questioned came storming back, and the Giants announced Monday they were pulling the two-time Cy Young Award winner from the rotation and dropping him off in the bullpen.

It’s a move that could very well strengthen their clutch on a playoff berth and give them a rare and incredibly valuable weapon: a dominant reliever capable of pitching more than one inning an outing. 

There is a precedent for this. The Giants moved Lincecum to the bullpen for the 2012 postseason, and he was flat-out dominant. He made a single start in those playoffs—Game 4 of the National League Championship Series against St. Louis—and was shelled for four earned runs in 4.2 innings. All of his value came out of the bullpen, from where he allowed one run in 13 innings (0.69 ERA), struck out 17 and walked two with a 0.38 WHIP 

Lincecum’s velocity was up in that postseason, and the bite on his other pitches reverted to devastating. Basically, he was the old Freak in a compacted form. In short bursts, he was brilliant and played a key role in the Giants winning their second World Series in three years.

If Lincecum can be that kind of weapon in 2014, he becomes the kind of luxury not afforded to most teams. If he comes anywhere close to duplicating what he did as a reliever in the 2012 postseason, he immediately becomes the most valuable non-starting pitcher in the majors.

For now, it seems like Lincecum is on board with the change.

Lincecum: “In my mind I’m going to battle any chance I get whether that’s start day or in relief. (cont.)” #SFGiants

— Matt Kawahara (@matthewkawahara) August 26, 2014

But Dave Cameron over at Fangraphs.com tells us to be leery of the move back to the bullpen working the way it did two Octobers ago. His findings say Lincecum’s value is diminished because so many of his problems arise when he has runners on base, and it is a valid point. Lincecum is tolerable when the bases are empty, but he is a tire fire when guys get on, and considering his lack of command at times, he puts himself in jams he can no longer escape.

There is a “however” here. Lincecum’s numbers with the bases empty and with runners on in 2012 aren’t that entirely different than they are this season. Also, three of his five relief appearances in 2012 started mid-inning with runners on base.

If the Giants truly are concerned about those splits, they can put Lincecum in favorable situations. If effective, he can become a two-inning specialist starting in the sixth or seventh inning. Or, if matchups are favorable, he can pitch the eighth and ninth. He can even piggyback a start here and there. As long as he is a reliable out-getter, Lincecum gives manager Bruce Bochy options and flexibility.

It’s the kind of asset that can shorten the game for a so-so rotation—its numbers should get better minus Lincecum—and give the Giants a bullpen advantage in any series they play.

Now, it’s quite possible, and even likely, that the big-stage moments of 2012 helped Lincecum’s success. He’s never been one to shrink in the spotlight, so when the lights were brightest in 2012 and the adrenaline was peaking, he was able to channel something not present during the regular season. That might explain the velocity spike and improved filthiness.

Then again, aiming to throw 30 pitches is much different than pacing for 100. We shouldn’t forget that atrocious start I mentioned earlier against the Cardinals with all eyes on him in those playoffs.

This 2014 experiment will likely start by giving Lincecum low-leverage situations to succeed, like placing raw meat at the foot of a wounded animal. If Lincecum gobbles it up, the Giants can eventually send him on the hunt for bigger prey.

That is when Lincecum will have the opportunity to make that bloated contract look sensible and become the kind of X-factor no other National League club can boast down the stretch and into October. 

Anthony Witrado covers Major League Baseball for Bleacher Report. He spent the previous three seasons as the national baseball columnist at Sporting News, and four years before that as the Brewers beat writer for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Follow Anthony on Twitter and talk baseball here.

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Tim Lincecum has taken fans on a roller-coaster ride during the last three years, and it’s finally reached its peak.

Sure, it was a lot more riveting watching Lincecum dazzle fans with eight brilliant innings in Game 5 of the 2010 World Series. But since Lincecum’s miserable 2012 campaign left the Giants wondering what he would do for the rest of his career, Giants fans have never been more excited about the former ace.

Lincecum boasts a phenomenal 0.30 ERA in his last four starts, and his ERA for the season is down to a respectable 3.66. Giants fans want to believe he is officially back, but they’ve been fooled by Lincecum before.

After his deplorable first half in 2012, when he lost 10 games and posted a horrid 6.42 ERA, he tossed two straight gems. He posted a 1.20 ERA in that span and completed seven or more innings both times.

But then he gave up five runs and failed to make it out of the fifth inning in his next start. He finished the year with a 5.18 ERA.

Lincecum started the 2013 year poorly, but he rebounded for one great start on July 13: He no-hit the San Diego Padres in a thrilling, 148-pitch affair, lowering his ERA to a slightly below-average 4.26.

The Giants started to expect great things from Lincecum. But then he gave up eight runs in his next start. He finished 2013 with a 4.37 ERA and left Giants fans wondering which Lincecum would show up in 2014.

Until his second no-hitter, it was the mediocre Lincecum of 2012 and 2013. But now his numbers are not laughable. He’s been dominant lately, and the Giants are 13-6 in his starts this year.

Excluding his two worst starts of the year (in which he gave up 15 combined runs in 8.1 innings), he has a 2.67 ERA.

He has six quality starts in his last seven outings, and he’s given up three runs or fewer in 14 of his 19 outings (and four runs or fewer in 17 of them).

For a frame of reference, ace Madison Bumgarner has given up more than three runs in eight of his 20 starts. Lincecum has finally pitched well this season, and the Giants finally have legitimate hope.

But is this sample size too small?

Lincecum is still the same guy who had a 4.79 ERA spanning from the start of 2012 until the start before his most recent no-hitter. So there would have to be concrete evidence to determine whether this recent mastery is sustainable.

The fact that he’s striking out fewer batters seems to speak for this stupendous stretch being a coincidence, but it actually shows a change in pitching style. It shows efficiency from Lincecum.

Before his second no-hitter, he was averaging 17.64 pitches per inning, which was why he was averaging about 5.5 innings per start. However, since then he has averaged 14.24 pitches per inning.

Considering that Lincecum averages 94.2 pitches per start this year, he could finish an average of 6.61 innings per start at his recent pace. By also limiting walks (he’s walked just nine in his last four starts), he can be much more effective.

However, there are some more complicated metrics that also paint a clear picture. According to Brooks Baseball, Lincecum threw his fastball 417 times, or 28.58 percent of the time, in his first 15 starts of 2014.

It didn’t benefit him much.

Opponents hit .326 against Lincecum’s fastball, and since then he has thrown his fastball just 20.8 percent of the time. Opponents are hitting a mere .063 off of it, which could indicate improvement with the pitch.

But it could also mean that Lincecum has become less predictable by gaining confidence in all of the pitches in his arsenal.

His slider has been sharp, as he has yielded a measly .200 slugging percentage (in his last four starts) with the pitch. This is in contrast to four home runs and four doubles in 80 at-bats before.

His ability to throw strikes, last into the late innings and throw the ball well despite a plummet in strikeouts is phenomenal.

It goes without saying that the freak of nature, who blew scouts and hitters away with a 97 mph fastball as a rookie, is gone. But a doppelganger with a different style could attain similar success.

Lincecum has the same devastating off-speed stuff that has carried him to success before, but he also has a successful approach. He’s throwing strikes and using all of his pitches in all counts, which is bad news for hitters.

Obviously, it’s harder to dominate without a blazing fastball to allow a pitcher to get away with mistakes. So expecting another Cy Young Award for Lincecum is, well, foolish.

But expecting Lincecum to be a consistent pitcher, who puts up above-average numbers in the middle of the rotation, is not wild.

In fact, when the Giants handed out what seemed to be a ludicrous $35 million deal to the quirky hurler, this is, most likely, exactly what they were hoping for.

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