Tim Lincecum

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Tim Lincecum

San Francisco Giants — No. 55
Starting pitcher
Born: June 15, 1984 (1984-06-15) (age 23) Bellevue, Washington
Bats: Left	Throws: Right
Major League Baseball debut
May 6, 2007 for the San Francisco Giants
Selected MLB statistics (through June 6, 2008)
Wins–Losses	15–6
ERA	3.33
Strikeouts	233
Teams
San Francisco Giants (2007–present)
Highlights and awards
Golden Spikes Award (2006)

Timothy LeRoy Lincecum (born June 15, 1984 in Bellevue, Washington) is a starting pitcher for the San Francisco Giants of Major League Baseball.^[1] Nicknamed "Franchise" by his teammates,^[2] Lincecum's first major league start took place on a nationwide ESPN broadcast on the evening of May 6, 2007.^[3] At 5 feet 11 inches (1.80 m) tall and weighing 170 pounds (77 kg), Lincecum is one of the smallest pitchers in the majors. He throws right-handed and bats left-handed.^[1]

He has frequently been named as the top pitching prospect in the Giants organization. Lincecum's two-seam fastball can be thrown at nearly 100 mph, and he maintains a game velocity in the 93–97 mph range. He also has a curveball that is thrown at about 81 mph, with a short quick break that permits him to be a high strikeout pitcher without an excessive pitch count. Lincecum uses a changeup to offset his top two pitches and keep batters off-balance and has recently added a cut fastball which breaks down and in against left-handers.^[4][5]

[edit] High school and college

Lincecum attended Liberty Senior High School in Issaquah, Washington, where he played two seasons of varsity baseball. As a senior, he won state player of the year and led his school to the 2003 3A state championship.^[6]

Lincecum then went on to pitch for the University of Washington. In 2004, he became the first player ever to be named both the Pac-10 Freshman of the Year and the Pac-10 Pitcher of the Year. In 2006, he finished 12–4 with a 1.94 ERA, 199 strikeouts, and three saves in 125⅓ innings.^[1] He won the 2006 Golden Spikes Award, which is awarded annually to the best amateur baseball player.^[7] Lincecum also played for the Harwich Mariners in the prestigious Cape Cod League during the summer of 2005.

[edit] Draft and Minor League career

Lincecum was selected by the Chicago Cubs in the 48th round (1,408th overall) of the 2003 MLB Draft, but did not sign.^[8] He decided to attend college instead, and was selected by the Cleveland Indians in the 42nd round (1,261st overall) upon re-entering the draft in 2005, but once again failed to sign.^[9] The next year, he was drafted 10th overall by the San Francisco Giants, becoming the first player from the University of Washington to be taken in the first round.^[6] He signed for a $2.025 million signing bonus on June 30, which at the time was the highest amount the organization had ever paid to any amateur player (until they gave $2.1 million to Angel Villalona a little over a month later).^[10]

Lincecum made his professional debut on July 26, 2006 with the Salem-Keizer Volcanoes (the Giants' Class A Short Season affiliate) against the Vancouver Canadians, pitching one inning and striking out all three batters he faced. After his second outing on July 31 against the Boise Hawks, in which he pitched three innings, striking out seven and allowing just one baserunner, he was promoted to the High Class-A San Jose Giants.

On August 5, in his first start in San Jose against the Bakersfield Blaze, he pitched 2⅔ innings, allowing three runs (two earned), and striking out five. Lincecum finished the year 2–0 with a 1.95 ERA, 48 strikeouts, and 12 walks in 27⅔ innings pitched. He also got the victory in the opening game of the California League playoffs, giving up one run on five hits in seven innings, striking out ten and walking one against the Visalia Oaks. Visalia would win the series 3–2.

Going into 2007, Lincecum was ranked as the #11 prospect in baseball and the #1 prospect in the San Francisco Giants organization by Baseball America.^[11] He spent the first month of the season pitching for the Fresno Grizzlies, the Giants' Triple-A affiliate. In five starts (31 innings), he allowed just 1 run, 12 hits, 11 walks, while striking out 46 and going 4–0.^[12] During his 2006 and 2007 minor league campaigns, Lincecum struck out the highest percentage of batters (minimum 100) of any minor league pitcher in the last 10 years: 30.9 percent.^[13]

Colorado Rockies prospect Ian Stewart called Lincecum "the toughest pitcher [he] ever faced," adding "Guys on our club who have been in the big leagues said he’s the toughest guy they ever faced too … I’m not really sure why he’s down here, but for a guy who was drafted last year … that guy is filthy."^[14]

[edit] Major League career

[edit] 2007

With an injury to the Giants' fifth starter, Russ Ortiz, Lincecum was called up to make his first major league start on May 6, 2007 against the Philadelphia Phillies. He earned a no-decision; the Giants lost the game eventually, 8–5. The first batter faced, Jimmy Rollins, singled, and the second, Shane Victorino, hit a home run. He then proceeded to strike out the side in the top of the first. His fastball topped out at 100 mph on the radar gun in the early innings, and later averaged in the low 90s. He gave up a second home run to then reigning NL MVP Ryan Howard, and left the game after throwing exactly 100 pitches in 4⅓ innings, giving up five runs (four earned).^[3]

He earned his first major league win in his next start, on the road against the Rockies. Lincecum, who is often compared to Houston Astros ace Roy Oswalt, faced him in each of his next two starts. After the first matchup, Astros third baseman Mike Lamb said, "The stuff he was throwing out there tonight was everything he's hyped up to be. He was 97 mph with movement. You just don't see that every day. He pitched very much like the pitcher he is compared to and outdueled him throughout the night."^[15] The pair dueled to a no-decision the first time, and Lincecum pitched eight innings and got the win the second time.

In his first four starts in June, he allowed 22 earned runs in 18⅔ innings, for a 10.61 ERA. He failed to make it to the fifth inning in any of the last three starts, against Oakland, Toronto, and Milwaukee.^[16] In July, he went 4–0 with a 1.62 ERA.^[17] On July 1, in a seven inning performance against the Arizona Diamondbacks, he struck out 12, the fourth highest total ever by a Giants rookie.^[2]

Lincecum pitched into the ninth inning for the first time on August 21 against the Chicago Cubs. He had allowed just two hits and one walk through the first eight, while throwing only 88 pitches. He took a 1–0 lead into the ninth, but allowed three consecutive hits before being pulled. The Cubs scored several times against the Giants bullpen and Lincecum took the loss. Cubs shortstop Ryan Theriot said after the game, "He's got electric stuff. The best stuff I've seen all year."^[18]

Lincecum was shut down in September as a precautionary measure, due to his high inning count in his first full year of professional ball.^[19] Between the minors and the majors, he pitched a total of 177⅓ innings.^[20][21]

[edit] 2008

The Giants asked Lincecum not to throw the bullpen sessions typical of other pitchers during the offseason. Manager Bruce Bochy told The San Francisco Chronicle that they were being careful with Lincecum because there have been studies that show that pitchers who throw 200 innings early in their career were more susceptible to injuries.^[22]

As of June 2008, Lincecum is 8–1, second in the Majors with 83 strikeouts and is second in the NL in ERA at 2.15. On May 15, 2008, after Lincecum struck out 10 Houston Astros in 6 innings, Houston first baseman Lance Berkman offered his view of Lincecum: "He's got as good of stuff as I've ever seen. ... He's got three almost unhittable pitches."^[23] After falling to Lincecum and the Giants 6–3 on May 27, Arizona Diamondbacks first baseman Conor Jackson gave his impression of facing Lincecum: "He's got good stuff," Jackson said. "From what I saw tonight, that's the best arm I've seen all year, no doubt. You've got to almost hit a ball right down the middle. You're going to pop up the ball at your bellybutton, which we all did tonight, and the one down, it's coming in at 98 [mph], you're not going to put too much good wood on it. Even the ones down the middle are coming at 98. He's good, man."^[24]

[edit] Statistics

Roll over stat abbreviations for definitions.

[edit] College

Italics: led Pac-10. Italics*: Pac-10 record. Bold italics: led NCAA.^[12][25][6]

[edit] Minor Leagues

^[12][26]

[edit] Major Leagues

Bold italics: leads MLB. Stats through June 6, 2008.^[21][27]

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Career statistics and player information from MLB, or ESPN, or Baseball-Reference, or Fangraphs, or The Baseball Cube
• University of Washington Bio
• The Book on Tim Lincecum from "ScoutingBook.com"
• Controlled Fury: Tim Lincecum