Lincecum

[Torridd]

Would someone who watches him regularly give assessments of him? Is he capable of being successful again? What is he doing wrong exactly? Do you think he can perform well as a reliever? Should we release him? Thanks for your insights.

[Troll Daddy]

He's bought and paid for ... keep pitching him until his arm falls off.

[eligrba]

I wonder what the Angel scouts said about Lincecum's potential when they watched him before the signing.  I know it is impossible to accurately and consistently predict the future of someone's performance, but this one appears to be a complete swing and miss from almost the beginning of his comeback.

[Slegnaac]

If only we had someone better to put in the rotation 

[DMVol]

2 minutes ago, Slegnaac said:

If only we had someone better to put in the rotation 

^^^This^^^....You can't have the injuries we've had and let the minor league system go to crap and not pay the price....we just don't have other options...

 

[Troll Daddy]

Lincecum says ... his hip is still bothering him. No pain but the problem is consistency in his delivery. 

[Docwaukee]

he's a disaster.  he has no idea where the ball is going.  his mechanics are so complicated that no one knows how to fix him.  not even himself.  His dad was the one that made him.  Maybe he can fix him.  His average velo is around 87 right now and his command is zero.  

[Billy_Ball]

While Nate Smith is waiting....and waiting......

[Blarg]

Nate Smith is not having his clock started for a lost season.

[totdprods]

Nate Smith has also had a really rough stretch lately too.

[tomsred]

Totally agree, no reason to bring up Nate Smith now unless we have no other choice.

 

[ettin]

2 hours ago, Torridd said:

Would someone who watches him regularly give assessments of him? Is he capable of being successful again? What is he doing wrong exactly? Do you think he can perform well as a reliever? Should we release him? Thanks for your insights.

Things Lincecum is doing right: 1 ) A 7.97 K/9 rate, 2 ) 0.95 BB/9 rate versus left-handed hitters, 3 ) 20.7% K%-BB% versus left-handed hitters, and 4 ) a 41.7% GB% rate with a 65.6% Pull rate.

Things Lincecum is doing wrong: 1 ) A 5.40 BB/9 rate, 2 ) a 2.57 HR/9 rate, 3 ) the 10.69 BB/9 rate versus right-handed hitters, 4 ) the - 8.6% K%-BB% versus right-handed hitters.

All of this on a .422 BABIP which indicates a lot of bad luck (league average is .300 or so) however some of that is the rather high LD% rates he has but balls are finding holes.

The only trouble Lincecum is having is against right-handed hitters and he is doing horribly bad. The reason that I personally think he can figure it out is because he does so well against left-handed hitters that it makes me believe that there is something mechanically related going on with him that is allowing RHH's to see the ball much better than LHH's do. I'm not an expert on this but Lincecum seems like a Jekyll and Hyde story.

[Angelsjunky]

Nate Smith is a grade C prospect. I don't think you worry too much about his clock.

[totdprods]

I'm actually all for running him out there the rest of the year. Chacin maybe at some point again too. At worst, they keep us in the mix for a protected pick. At best, one of them starts to show something and it gives us a head start on bringing them back next year to fill out our SP depth. The FA class is so thin one or two of Weaver, Lincecum, or Chacin may still be good reclamation/flyer types for the 5th. Also think pursuing a Nova or Hellickson type for a #4 innings-eater role should be in the cards.

[The God of Runs]

The only thing wrong with Lincecum is that he's on the Angels' 40 man roster

[eaterfan]

56 minutes ago, Angelsjunky said:

Nate Smith is a grade C prospect. I don't think you worry too much about his clock.

This season is a grade F season. I don't think you worry too much about Lincecum bombing every 5th game.

[tdawg87]

It's more about seeing what Smith can do and if he's a viable rotation option next year. He's going to be 25 years old in less than a month. He'll be 32 by the time his "clock" runs out anyway. Just call him up.

[Dick B Back]

30 minutes ago, tdawg87 said:

It's more about seeing what Smith can do and if he's a viable rotation option next year. He's going to be 25 years old in less than a month. He'll be 32 by the time his "clock" runs out anyway. Just call him up.

Or he might be 32 by the time they call him up.

[Brent Maguire]

Lincecum's mechanics are completely out of whack. Nothing he's doing right now looks smooth. Inconsistent arm slots, lack of balance when he finishes, etc. This isn't surprising since he's older and coming off a major injury and he can't rely on pure athleticism to bail him out. 

Couple bad mechanics with a flat 87-89 mph fastball and he's tossing BP right now. His split-change and slider are still quality offerings but when he's not locating anything, it doesn't really matter. I think Lincecum's future lies in the bullpen as a mop-up guy until he sees his fastball velocity rise or his command improves. 

[jsnpritchett]

54 minutes ago, tdawg87 said:

It's more about seeing what Smith can do and if he's a viable rotation option next year. He's going to be 25 years old in less than a month. He'll be 32 by the time his "clock" runs out anyway. Just call him up.

Yep.  Been saying this all along.  It's laughable to worry about a "clock" on a dude this old.

[Skankhunt42]

10 hours ago, Slegnaac said:

If only we had someone better to put in the rotation 

J.B. Shuck! Oh wait, he's not and Angel.

[Oz27]

11 hours ago, Torridd said:

Would someone who watches him regularly give assessments of him? Is he capable of being successful again? What is he doing wrong exactly? Do you think he can perform well as a reliever? Should we release him? Thanks for your insights.

He pitches really slowly and can't control his pitches. He is still drawing some strikeouts but when teams hit him he is being hit really, really hard (the hard contact rate against him is a staggering 42 per cent). The only way he gets better results is if he starts throwing much harder or massively improves his control and there is very little to suggest he will do either. It's hard to reach a conclusion other than he is done. At the very least he shouldn't be starting anymore, unless we trade Santiago - and even then there are better options out there. Clayton Richard was DFA'd the other day and would almost certainly be a better starter than Lincecum now. Kyle Lohse was DFA'd too and I'd rather have a look at him than keep running Lincecum out there. Chacin is better too, which is really saying something.

[tdawg87]

Honestly I hope Tim gets a vasectomy so he can't Lincecum anymore.

[Vegas Halo Fan]

14 hours ago, Dochalo said:

he has no idea where the ball is going.

He hears the ball better than any pitcher on the staff.

[fan_since79]

I think they wanted him back, but as a reliever. He wanted to start.

At least that's what I recall reading.