A tale of two starts for LA Angels Lincecum

Former LA Angels pitcher Lincecum returned to Salt Lake for a minor league stint. After what could only be called a terrible return with the Angels, he had ultimately accepted the demotion to Triple-A.

The LA Angels hope that Tim Lincecum can find some of the magic that once made him a back-to-back Cy Young Award Winner. How long are the Angels willing to wait on Lincecum remains to be seen.

The fact that he is only under contract through the end of the season might suggest that his window to show significant improve is about six weeks. If Lincecum shows promise over the next few weeks, a return trip to Anaheim will most likely be his reward, where he would get one final chance to prove himself to the Angels and all of Major League Baseball.

So when the Salt Lake City Bees played the Round Rock Express at home last Monday. The excitement was high; as Tim Lincecum approached the mound and it was hopefully going to be the start to his triumphant return.

That excitement was instantly dashed in the first inning. Lincecum gave up a lead off triple and two home runs ultimately giving up three runs. Lincecum lasted 4.1 innings giving up four runs, four walks, and four strikeouts.

More from Halo Hangout

This first game in Triple-A for Lincecum was bound to be stressful for him, and it isn’t all that surprising the outing he had. After that first inning he didn’t look too bad, he even had some pitches that were great.

Those 4 strikeouts were him outmatching the batters, it will be nice to see if he can continue that trend. We will have to see if Lincecum will come out and be able to calm himself and outmatch batters. If not, he will be in for a rough rest of his career.

Lincecum shows promise in second start.

So fast-forward to Saturday night in El Paso as Lincecum again took the mound in hopes of finding something that he seems to have lost over the past couple of seasons: Confidence.

Despite allowing a base runner in five of the six innings he pitched, Lincecum was able to hold El Paso to one run on seven hits in six innings of work, with a walk and five strikeouts.

What was the most encouraging sign for Lincecum was in 84 pitches he threw 53 strikes and only 31 balls and only walked one batter, which was a major issue in his time in Anaheim. It was not what you would call a dominating performance for Lincecum, but a solid outing nonetheless which is encouraging.

This has to be a breath of fresh air for Lincecum, since there has not been much encouraging news for him in the past two months since his stellar debut in Oakland in early June. Hopefully Lincecum can build on this minor success and get his mojo back.