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Tim Lincecum

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Tim Lincecum
San Francisco Giants – No. 55
Starting pitcher
Bats: Left
Throws: Right
debut
May 6, 2007, for the San Francisco Giants
Career statistics
(through April 13, 2008)
Wins–Losses9–5
ERA3.83
Strikeouts172
Stats at Baseball Reference Edit this at Wikidata
Teams
Career highlights and awards

Timothy LeRoy Lincecum (born June 15, 1984 in Template:City-state) 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 Template:Ft in to m tall and weighing Template:Lb to 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 96–99 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 slider which breaks down and in against left-handers.[4][5]

High school and college

Lincecum attended Liberty Senior High School in Template:City-state, 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 prestigous Cape Cod League during the summer of 2005.

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]

Major League career

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]

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]

Statistics

Year Ag Tm Lg W L G GS CG SHO IP H R ER HR BB SO HBP WP BFP BK ERA WHIP OBA
2007 23 SF NL 7 5 24 24 0 0 146⅓ 122 70 65 12 65 150 2 10 618 0 4.00 1.278 .226
2008 24 SF NL 2 0 3 2 0 0 16 17 4 4 0 6 22 1 1 70 0 2.25 1.438 .279
Totals: 9 5 27 26 0 0 162⅓ 139 74 69 12 71 172 3 11 688 0 3.83 1.294 .232
Roll over stat abbreviations for definitions. Stats through April 13, 2008.[21][23]

References

  1. ^ a b c "Tim Lincecum Player File". MLB.com. Retrieved 2007-08-31.
  2. ^ a b McCauley, Janie (2007-07-01). "San Francisco 13, Arizona 0 (7/1/07 Recap)". Associated Press. Retrieved 2007-08-31. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  3. ^ a b McCauley, Janie (2007-05-07). "Philadelphia 8, San Francisco 5 (5/6/07 Recap)". Associated Press. Retrieved 2007-08-31. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  4. ^ Baggarly, Andy (2007-02-22). "Top 10 Prospects: San Francisco Giants". Baseball America. Retrieved 2007-08-31. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  5. ^ Goldstein, Kevin (2006-12-29). "Future Shock: San Francisco Giants Top Ten Prospects". Baseball Prospectus. Retrieved 2007-08-31. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  6. ^ a b "Player Bio: Tim Lincecum". GoHuskies.com. Retrieved 2007-08-31.
  7. ^ "USA Baseball Golden Spikes Award". USABaseball.com. Retrieved 2007-08-31.
  8. ^ "2003 First Year Player Draft Tracker, 48th round". mlb.com. Retrieved 2007-12-20.
  9. ^ "2005 First Year Player Draft Tracker". mlb.com. Retrieved 2007-12-20.
  10. ^ Harvey, Coley (2006-08-19). "Notes: Broken jaw sidelines Frandsen". MLB.com. Retrieved 2007-08-31. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  11. ^ "2007 Top 100 Prospects". Baseball America. 2007-02-28. Retrieved 2007-08-31. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  12. ^ "Tim Lincecum Statistics". The Baseball Cube. Retrieved 2007-08-31.
  13. ^ Wilkins, Ryan (2007-05-01). "Lincecum a Giant among prospects". PROTRADE. Retrieved 2007-08-31. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  14. ^ Kline, Chris (2007-05-03). "Ian Stewart on Tim Lincecum". Baseball America. Retrieved 2007-08-31. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  15. ^ Schulman, Henry (2007-05-18). "Giants: Strong pitching by Lincecum, relievers helps beat Astros in 12 innings". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved 2007-08-31. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  16. ^ "Tim Lincecum 2007 Pitching Gamelogs". Baseball-Reference. Retrieved 2007-08-31.
  17. ^ "Tim Lincecum 2007 Pitching Splits". Baseball-Reference. Retrieved 2007-08-31.
  18. ^ Haft, Chris (2007-08-22). "Lincecum's gem dashed in ninth". MLB.com. Retrieved 2007-08-31. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  19. ^ Regan, Becky (2007-09-20). "Notes: Giants shut down Lincecum". MLB.com. Retrieved 2007-10-05. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  20. ^ "Tim Lincecum Statistics (Minor Leagues)". Baseball-Reference: Minor Leagues. Retrieved 2007-10-05.
  21. ^ a b "Tim Lincecum Statistics". Baseball-Reference. Retrieved 2007-04-14.
  22. ^ "In Lowry, Giants are looking out for No. 3". The San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved 2009-02-16.
  23. ^ "Tim Lincecum Stats". MLB.com. Retrieved 2008-04-14.
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