Los Angeles Angels: Tim Lincecum to Make 2016 Debut Saturday
By Ron Juckett
With mounting injuries, the Los Angeles Angels plan to start Tim Lincecum Saturday at home against the Oakland Athletics.
Tim Lincecum will likely make his 2016 major league debut on Saturday for the Los Angeles Angels.
The two-time National League Cy Young Award winner will pitch on the road against the Oakland Athletics.
A free agent after leaving the San Francisco Giants at the end of the 2015 season, Lincecum remained unsigned until the Angels grabbed him on May 20. In three starts with the Triple-A Salt Lake City Bees, he rediscovered the form that struck fear in hitters in the early part of the decade. Although he lost both decisions, Pacific Coast League batters mustered seven hits in 17 innings. No ball left the yard as he fanned 19 while walking six.
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If the Angels can recapture the Lincecum that tossed two no-hitters and helped bring three World Series championships to San Francisco, they might turn around a dismal season headed nowhere. Buried in the basement of the American League West, a full 12 games behind the first-place Texas Rangers, the Halos desperately need starting pitching.
No healthy starter has an ERA under Jhoulys Chacin’s 4.42 and no one has an Adjusted ERA+ above 89. Nick Tropeano and Garrett Richards, who were posting good numbers, are on the disabled list. In Richards’ case, he is on the 60-day DL for a torn right ulnar collateral ligament and is hoping to avoid surgery. The earliest he can return is July 4.
C.J. Wilson is down with a back injury suffered in Spring Training and there is no timetable set for his return.
If the Angels get the 2015 version of Lincecum, they will have a pitcher who struggled with control, walking 38 in 76.1 innings, but still allowed less than a hit per inning and kept the ball in the yard. If he can return to his vintage years, Los Angeles scores a four-time All-Star capable of fanning over ten per nine frames. Called “The Freak” with his unique catapult delivery, he topped 200 innings pitched four straight years.
At 32, there should be something left in the tank. A new city and a fresh start will be beneficial to both him and the Angels. If you figure he gets around 20 starts this year, then he will have a long audition going forward.
Considering how bad the starting rotation is right now for the Angels, Lincecum with a decent season will earn an offer for 2017. If he excels, with a weak free agent class of pitching on the way, several teams will clamor for his services. When he is on, there are few better.
The realistic goal, however, is him keeping the Angels in games through six innings and not over-extending the already fried bullpen. An ERA matching last year’s 4.13 with the Giants would lead the team.
Like the Angels, for Lincecum it is now one start at a time.