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Tim Lincecum

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Timothy Leroy Lincecum (born June 15, 1984 in Template:City-state) is an American baseball player who is currently a starting pitcher for the San Francisco Giants of Major League Baseball. Nicknamed "The Franchise"[1] and "The Freak."[2] Lincecum's first major league start was broadcast throughout North America by ESPN on the evening of May 6, 2007.[3]

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 2008 season)
Win-Loss25–10
Earned run average3.16
Strikeouts415
Teams
Career highlights and awards

He throws right-handed and bats left-handed.[4] Lincecum is known for his long stride, unorthodox mechanics, and ability to generate high velocity despite his slight build of 5'11", 172 lbs.[5] Lincecum won the 2008 NL Cy Young Award, becoming the first second-year player to win the Cy Young since Dwight Gooden and Bret Saberhagen both won in 1985. His repertoire includes a two-seam fastball that he throws at nearly 99 miles per hour, a changeup he grips like a splitter, a curveball that can start toward a batter's head and drop into the strike zone at knee-level, and a slider he rarely throws.[6]

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.[7]

Lincecum 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.[4] He won the 2006 Golden Spikes Award, which is awarded annually to the best amateur baseball player.[8] Lincecum also played for the Harwich Mariners in the prestigious Cape Cod Baseball 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.[9] 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.[10] 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.[7] 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).[11]

During his brief minor league career, he was frequently named as the top pitching prospect in the Giants organization.[12]

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.[13] 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 one run, twelve hits, eleven walks, while striking out forty-six and going 4–0.[14] 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 ten years: 30.9 percent.[15]

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."[16]

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 ultimately lost the game, 8–5. In his first career inning, Lincecum gave up two hits, two runs, and struck out three.[1]

He earned his first major league win in his next start, on the road against the Rockies.[17] Lincecum, who is often compared to Houston Astros ace Roy Oswalt,[18][19] 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."[20] The pair dueled to a no-decision the first time, and Lincecum pitched eight innings and got the win the second time.[21]

In his first four starts in June, he allowed twenty-two 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.[22] In July, he went 4–0 with a 1.62 ERA.[23] On July 1, in a seven inning performance against the Arizona Diamondbacks, he struck out twelve, 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 eighty-eight 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."[24]

Lincecum was shut down in September as a precautionary measure, due to his high inning count in his first full year of professional ball.[25] Between the minors and the majors, he pitched a total of 177⅓ innings.[26][27]

2008

 
Lincecum pitching on August 1, 2008, in San Diego

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.[28]

On May 15, 2008, after Lincecum struck out ten Houston Astros in six innings, Houston first baseman Lance Berkman offered his view of Lincecum: "He's got as good of stuff as I've ever seen. ... He's got three almost unhittable pitches."[29] After falling to Lincecum and the Giants 6–3 on May 27, Arizona Diamondbacks first baseman Conor Jackson gave his impression of facing Lincecum: "He's got good stuff," Jackson said. "From what I saw tonight, that's the best arm I've seen all year, no doubt. You've got to almost hit a ball right down the middle. You're going to pop up the ball at your bellybutton, which we all did tonight, and the one down, it's coming in at 98 mph, you're not going to put too much good wood on it. Even the ones down the middle are coming at 98. He's good, man."[30]

Lincecum was on the cover of the July 7, 2008 issue of Sports Illustrated,[31] and on July 6, he was selected to play in his first Major League Baseball All-Star Game. However, he was hospitalized the day of the game due to flu-like symptoms and was unavailable to pitch. In a July 26 game against the Arizona Diamondbacks, he struck out a career-high thirteen batters in seven innings while allowing only seven hits, two earned runs, and no walks.

Lincecum pitched his first complete game shutout against the San Diego Padres on September 13, 2008.[32] In nine innings he threw 138 pitches, gave up four hits and struck out twelve batters.[33] On September 23, he broke Jason Schmidt's San Francisco single season strikeout record with his 252nd strikeout of the season against the Colorado Rockies. He finished the season with 265 strikeouts, making him the first San Francisco pitcher to win the National League strikeout title, and the first Giant since Bill Voiselle in 1944. On November 11, 2008, Lincecum was awarded the NL Cy Young Award, making him the second Giant to win the award after Mike McCormick.[34]

Pitch repertoire

Lincecum throws a two-seam fastball around 95 mph, that can reach upper 90s. This pitch has little lateral movement, due to his overhand delivery and the speed at which the pitch is thrown. He also has a curveball that is thrown at about 80 mph with traditional 12-6 break also due to his overhand delivery. Lincecum uses a changeup that he grips similar to a splitter to offset his top two pitches and keep batters off-balance and has recently added a cut fastball which breaks down and in against left-handers. His change up appears similar to his fastball for the first 30 feet, but then breaks almost 12in downward and in toward a right-handed batter as it approaches the plate, with a good 10mph velocity difference from his fastball.[35] With his power fastball and plus secondary pitches, he has quickly established himself as one of the top pitchers in the game.[36]

Accomplishments

Statistics

College

Year Ag Team Conf W L G GS CG SHO SV IP H R ER HR BB SO HBP WP BK ERA WHIP AVG
2004 20 Washington Pac-10 10 3 20 18 0 0 0 112⅓ 83 55 44 5 82 161 7 15 3 3.53 1.469 .207
2005 21 Washington Pac-10 8 6 16 16 4 1 0 104⅓ 62 40 36 4 71 131 10 11 0 3.11 1.275 .179
2006 22 Washington Pac-10 12 4 22 17 3 2 3 125⅓ 75 39 27 8 63 199 10 14 1 1.94 1.101 .173
Totals: 30 13 58 51 7 3 3 342 220 134 107 17 216 491* 27 40 4 2.82 1.275 .186

Italics: led Pac-10. Italics*: Pac-10 record. Bold italics: led NCAA.[14][43][7]

Minor leagues

Year Ag Team Lg Lvl W L G GS CG SHO IP H R ER HR BB SO HBP WP BK ERA WHIP AVG
2006 22 Salem-Keizer NWL A- 0 0 2 2 0 0 4 1 0 0 0 0 10 0 1 0 0.00 0.250 .081
San Jose Calif A+ 2 0 6 6 0 0 27⅔ 13 7 6 3 12 48 0 2 0 1.95 0.904 .143
2007 23 Fresno PCL AAA 4 0 5 5 0 0 31 12 1 1 0 11 46 1 1 0 0.29 0.742 .121
Totals: 6 0 13 13 0 0 62⅔ 26 8 7 3 23 104 1 4 0 1.01 0.782 .128

[14][44]

Major leagues

Year Ag Team Lg W L G GS CG SHO IP H R ER HR BB SO HBP WP BFP BK ERA ERA+ WHIP AVG
2007 23 San Francisco NL 7 5 24 24 0 0 146⅓ 122 70 65 12 65 150 2 10 618 0 4.00 111 1.278 .226
2008 24 San Francisco NL 18 5 34 33 2 1 227 182 72 66 11 84 265 6 17 928 2 2.62 167 1.172 .221
2009 24 San Francisco NL 0 0 1 1 0 0 3 4 3 3 0 3 5 1 1 17 0 9.00 47 2.333 .308
Totals: 25 10 59 58 2 1 376⅓ 308 145 134 23 152 420 9 28 1563 2 3.20 137 1.222 .224

Bold italics: leads MLB. Stats through October 2, 2008.[27][45]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b McCauley, Janie (2007-05-07), Howard Helps Power Phillies Past Giants, Washington Post, retrieved 2008-09-22 {{citation}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  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. ^ 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. ^ a b "Tim Lincecum Player File". MLB.com. Retrieved 2007-08-31.
  5. ^ How Tiny Tim Became a Pitching Giant - Tom Verducci - SI.com
  6. ^ Haft, Chris (2008-11-11). "NL Cy Young Award goes to Lincecum". MLB.com: News. Retrieved 2009-01-02. {{cite web}}: Text "coauthors" ignored (help)
  7. ^ a b c "Player Bio: Tim Lincecum". GoHuskies.com. Retrieved 2008-05-13.
  8. ^ "USA Baseball Golden Spikes Award". USABaseball.com. Retrieved 2007-08-31.
  9. ^ "2003 First Year Player Draft Tracker, 48th round". mlb.com. Retrieved 2007-12-20.
  10. ^ "2005 First Year Player Draft Tracker". mlb.com. Retrieved 2007-12-20.
  11. ^ Harvey, Coley (2006-08-19). "Notes: Broken jaw sidelines Frandsen". MLB.com. Retrieved 2007-08-31. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  12. ^ Cockcroft, Tristan H. (2007-05-08), Around the NL: Nolasco debuts, Rollins third, ESPN, retrieved 2008-09-22
  13. ^ "2007 Top 100 Prospects". Baseball America. 2007-02-28. Retrieved 2007-08-31. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  14. ^ a b c "Tim Lincecum Statistics". The Baseball Cube. Retrieved 2008-05-13.
  15. ^ Wilkins, Ryan (2007-05-01). "Lincecum a Giant among prospects". PROTRADE. Retrieved 2007-08-31. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  16. ^ Kline, Chris (2007-05-03). "Ian Stewart on Tim Lincecum". Baseball America. Retrieved 2007-08-31. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  17. ^ Schulman, Henry (2007-05-12), Loose Lincecum registers first win, San Francisco Chronicle, retrieved 2008-09-22 {{citation}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  18. ^ Nightengale, Bob (2007-03-08), Tim Lincecum: Looks can deceive, USA Today, retrieved 2008-09-22 {{citation}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  19. ^ Falkoff, Robert (2008-04-19), Cardinals shut down by Giants phenom, MLB.com, retrieved 2008-09-22
  20. ^ 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)
  21. ^ "ESPN - Phillies vs. Giants - Play-by-Play - May 06, 2007". Retrieved 2008-07-15.
  22. ^ "Tim Lincecum 2007 Pitching Gamelogs". Baseball-Reference. Retrieved 2007-08-31.
  23. ^ "Tim Lincecum 2007 Pitching Splits". Baseball-Reference. Retrieved 2007-08-31.
  24. ^ 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)
  25. ^ Regan, Becky (2007-09-20). "Notes: Giants shut down Lincecum". MLB.com. Retrieved 2007-10-05. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  26. ^ "Tim Lincecum Statistics (Minor Leagues)". Baseball-Reference: Minor Leagues. Retrieved 2007-10-05.
  27. ^ a b "Tim Lincecum Statistics". Baseball-Reference. Retrieved 2008-06-12.
  28. ^ Schulman, Henry (2008-02-16). "In Lowry, Giants are looking out for No. 3". San Francisco Chronicle. p. D-1. Retrieved 2008-02-16.
  29. ^ Bullpen succumbs to Astros' barrage | SFGiants.com: News
  30. ^ Gilbert, Steve (2008-05-28). "Long ball hurts Haren in loss to Giants". MLB.com. Retrieved 2008-05-30. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  31. ^ "NL | Giants' Lincecum not star struck, even after SI cover appearance", Seattle Times, 2008-07-04, retrieved 2008-09-22 {{citation}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |newspaper= (help)
  32. ^ Baum, Bob (2008-09-19), "RHP Tim Lincecum gets first loss since July", Seattle Times, retrieved 2008-09-22 {{citation}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |newspaper= (help)
  33. ^ Baggarly, Andrew (2008-09-13), "Giants' Lincecum throws four-hit shutout", San Jose Mercury News, retrieved 2008-09-22 {{citation}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |newspaper= (help)
  34. ^ http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20081111&content_id=3674375&vkey=news_mlb&fext=.jsp&c_id=mlb
  35. ^ Josh Kalk (November 18, 2008). "Another look at Tim Lincecum". The Hardball Times. Retrieved 2007-04-09.
  36. ^ 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)
  37. ^ Ott, Tim (2008-12-19), Season's finest claim TYIB Awards, MLB, retrieved 2009-01-03
  38. ^ a b Stone, Larry (2008-10-21), Former Husky Tim Lincecum captures two NL honors, Sporting News, retrieved 2008-10-23 {{citation}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  39. ^ a b Schulman, Henry (2008-10-21), Lincecum earns players' vote, San Francisco Chronicle, retrieved 2008-10-23 {{citation}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  40. ^ 2K Sports. "NL Cy Young Award Winner Tim Lincecum is Cover Athlete for MLB 2K9".{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  41. ^ Mayo, Jonathan (2006-06-23), Lincecum named Golden Spikes winner, Major League Baseball, retrieved 2008-11-15
  42. ^ Prep notebook: Lincecum, Curtis share MVP award, Seattle Times, 2003-07-12, retrieved 2008-11-15 {{citation}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  43. ^ "The College Baseball Pitching Stats Database". Boyd's World. Retrieved 2008-05-13.
  44. ^ "Tim Lincecum Stats and Graphs". FanGraphs. Retrieved 2008-05-13.
  45. ^ "Tim Lincecum Stats". MLB.com. Retrieved 2008-06-12.
 
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Tim Lincecum.
Awards and achievements
Preceded by National League Strikeout Champion
2008 		Succeeded by
none
Preceded by NL hits per nine innings
2008 		Succeeded by
TBD
Preceded by NL opponent batting average
2008 		Succeeded by
TBD
Preceded by National League Cy Young Award
2008 		Succeeded by
Incumbent

Template:MLBAceStartingPitchers

Template:Persondata

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