Tim Lincecum is 'definitely open' to pitching out of the bullpen in future
Tim Lincecum wants to remain a starter this year, but he told CSNBayArea.com he is 'definitely open' to relieving down the road.
By
Mike Axisa
•
2 min read
More MLB: Scoreboard | Standings | Probable Pitchers | Sortable Stats | Odds
Giants right-hander Tim Lincecum is both a two-time Cy Young Award winner and the owner of a 5.16 ERA (67 ERA+) in 251 innings across 44 starts since the start of 2012. He's also due to become a free agent this winter, and on Sunday he made some very interesting comments to Andy Baggarly of CSNBayArea.com:
Tim Lincecum told me today that he's 100 percent focused on remaining a starter this season but is very open to relieving in future.
— Andrew Baggarly (@CSNBaggs) June 2, 2013
Lincecum: "If my career takes that turn I'm definitely open to changes, especially if it's beneficial to the team I'm playing for."
— Andrew Baggarly (@CSNBaggs) June 2, 2013
I think fans of the other 29 teams just started salivating at the idea of adding the right-hander to their bullpen starting next year.
Lincecum, 28, has made one career regular-season relief appearance, and that came way back in 2008 due to some rain-delay shenanigans. Manager Bruce Bochy used Lincecum in relief during the postseason last fall, however, and he allowed just one run on six hits and two walks in 13 innings while striking out 17. He was a multi-inning bullpen force.
PitchFX data shows Lincecum has lost some oomph off his fastball in recent years, but he regained some when working in relief. His changeup and slider remain top-notch individual pitches, but they haven't played as well off the slower fastball. Even while struggling these last two years, Lincecum has generated close to 11 percent swings and misses, which is well above-average.
The Giants are short on starters at the moment, so Lincecum will remain in the rotation despite a 5.12 ERA and 1.48 WHIP. He could shift back into a relief role should the Giants make the postseason again and trim their pitching staff down. San Francisco is currently 29-27 and 2 1/2 games back of the Diamondbacks in the NL West.
Lincecum was already slated to be one of the most interesting free agents on the market. He's still young (turns 29 in two weeks) and theoretically in the prime of his career, but it's obvious his days as a Cy Young contender are a thing of the past. His work out of the bullpen was intriguing, but no pitcher of this caliber with this reputation has willingly gone from starter to reliever at this point of his career. How do you gauge his value?
I'm sure every team would love to add Lincecum to their bullpen, especially if he can work as a multi-inning setup man like he did during the postseason. At the same time, starting pitching is always in high demand and there might be teams interested in keeping him in the rotation. Would he take a potential starting opportunity with a non-contender over a bullpen role (and possibly smaller contract) with a contender? It'll be six or so months until we find out.
