Possible Early Exit for Angels’ Tim Lincecum?

With Tim Lincecum performing so poorly as he has been for the last few months, the Angels have decided to cut ties with him, or have they? The Angels decided to designate Lincecum for assignment, meaning that he will be put through the waivers process. If any team claims him they will be able to sign him for the league minimum. If not the Angels and Lincecum can agree for him to report to the minors. So we still may not have seen the last of Tim Lincecum.

So lets recap Tim Lincecum’s two month stint with the Angels by going back to the beginning in June 18th. When Tim Lincecum signed with the Angels and it brought a lot of media attention and Hall of Fame like numbers and awards. Lincecum made his first start as an Angel going six full innings and only allowing one run on 98 pitches against the Oakland Athletics in a 7-1 victory. It was a perfect beginning for “The Freak”, unfortunately every time out since has not provided Lincecum with a happy ending.

So now let’s get back to the present and really view just how well the Tim Lincecum project has gone with the Angels thus far.

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So far on the season, Lincecum has started nine games for the Halos. In those nine games, he has only pitched 38.1 innings which averages out to around four innings pitched a game. Obviously, you would like your starting pitchers to go six or seven innings which is a huge concern for the Angels. Also in those nine games, he has an ERA of a whopping 9.16 and his WHIP is a staggering 2.37. Basically he is averaging two base-runners per inning. Just to put some more salt on the wound, in Lincecum’s nine starts this season, he has allowed four runs or more in all but two of those games.

To put it frankly, the Tim Lincecum move and his possible comeback has simply been disastrous.

So What’s Causing His Poor Performance?

Since Tim Lincecum is in his 30’s now and not as young as he once was, his velocity on his fastball has died down. Tim’s fastball sits in the high 80’s pushing 85-88 MPH. As we’ve seen with other pitchers struggling with velocity A.K.A Jered Weaver, it can put a lot of stress on a pitcher because they don’t have that hard fastball to rely on to help them.

But, that is not Lincecum’s only struggle he has been dealing with on the season. Lincecum has also seen a lack of command with his pitches in general. On the season, Timmy is averaging a 7.5K/9 and 5.4 BB/9. Giving up nearly as many walks as dishing out strikeouts is a huge red flag for command issues. His command issues have caused him to get behind in counts which allows hitters to be more successful as they have a higher chance of predicting a certain pitch.

What Type of Moves Could the Angels Make Concerning Lincecum?

There are a few moves that the Angels can make if Lincecum continues to struggle the way he has been.

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The move the Angels made Saturday to cut ties with Tim Lincecum is not surprising. Since he was basically a ‘project’ to see if he still had some of his old stuff, the Angels don’t lose much by releasing him or sending Lincecum down to the minors if he clears waivers and accepts the demotion.

So who will replace Lincecum in the rotation? Two pitchers that come to mind would be Jhoulys Chacin, or possibly top minor league pitching prospect Nate Smith.

Since being demoted from a starting pitcher to relief, Chacin has performed well in his role which could promote him back to the starting rotation to give him another shot. Nate Smith on the other hand could definitely use some major league experience going forward. He is arguably the best starting pitcher prospect in the Angels farm system, and since the Angels are well out of reach of winning the division, why not give the young gun a chance?

So for now at least the Tim Lincecum is over. We will see if he ends up going to the minors and is able to straighten things out. If not it was fun while it lasted, well sort of.

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