MLB: Tim Lincecum showcase set for friday

MLB teams have been waiting for Tim Lincecum to work out since the start of free agency and they will finally get a chance to see what the former Cy Young has to offer this Friday.

There have been rumors of Tim Lincecum working out for teams since the early parts of free agency, but he has not been able to showcase his stuff yet till word came out that the 31 year-old pitcher will throw for interested clubs this Friday. The former San Francisco Giant will be out to show MLB teams that he has fully recovered from his degenerative hips that ended his 2015 season after just 15 starts.

According to Jon Heyman of MLB Network, at least 20 clubs will be in attendance to watch the former San Francisco Giants’ star work out. Heyman specifies that the Giants, Orioles and Padres in particular will be on hand to watch Lincecum. John Hickey of the Oakland Tribune also tweeted that the Oakland Athletics will be in attendance for the showcase.

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Lincecum is known for his unique pitching style that made him one of the best starting pitchers in the league from 2008-2011. However, for the past four seasons, he has just not looked like the pitcher he was when he won Cy Young Awards in back-to-back years. From 2012-2015, Lincecum has a combined ERA of a 4.60 and his strikeout numbers have dipped from close to 10 per nine innings from 2008-2011, to around only seven per nine innings in the past in the past two seasons. He also walked a career-high 4.5 batters per nine innings in 2015 before suffering a season-ending hip injury.

But why has Lincecum’s performance fallen off so far? Looking at his velocity can tell you a lot about his recent stuggles. According to Fangraphs, back when he was dominating the National League in the late-2000’s, Lincecum averaged a fastball velocity of around 93 mph, and would consistently be able to throw his heater in the mid-to-high 90’s if he needed to. However, in his last two seasons, Lincecum has just not shown the ability to throw that same electric fastball, and as a result, he has been using his heater less. In 2014, he averaged under 90 mph on his fastball for the first time in his career, with his average velocity being 89.6 mph. Last season, his fastball velocity decreased even more to around 87 mph. This change in velocity gives good reason why Lincecum threw his heater at his lowest percentages of his career in both 2014 and 2015.

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His ailing stuff combined with his recent injury, should not give teams confidence that he will be able to get back to even close to the pitcher he once was, but this does not mean that there are not clubs out there who may take a chance on him. Currently, there are many contending teams that leave a lot to be desired in their starting rotation. Clubs like Boston, Baltimore, Oakland, Detroit and the Giants all have been able to stay competitive without good starting rotation depth, and may want Lincecum as potential flier at this point in the season.

As of right now, there just aren’t a lot of proven starting pitchers available being that it is the beginning of May and meaningful trades won’t be made until at least the middle of June roles around. And while Lincecum is certainly not the pitcher he once was, he has a great opportunity on Friday to show clubs that he may still have something left in the tank. If he performed well on Friday with many teams still in need of starting pitching depth, they have to at least consider a pitcher with the credentials that Lincecum has. However, clubs  shouldn’t expect that he will be a top of the line starter, but he could potentially fill a role in a bullpen or as a spot starter.

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What do you think of Tim Lincecum’s outlook for 2016? Let us know in the comments below.