San Francisco Giants, and Lincecum and Cain: How the Mighty Have Fallen

From aces to wildcards, the San Francisco Giants have watched as Tim Lincecum and Matt Cain have fallen from grace.

It wasn’t all that long ago that Matt Cain and Tim Lincecum combined to give the San Francisco Giants quite possibly the most potent one-two starting pitcher combination that baseball had to offer.

Cain pitched to an ERA under three in three out of four seasons between 2009 and 2012, and threw the first perfect game in the long, storied history of the Giants’ franchise on June 13th, 2012. Lincecum won consecutive Cy Young Awards in 2008 and 2009, becoming the first player to earn the award in both of his first two full seasons, and struck out more hitters than any other pitcher in the five-year span from 2008 to 2012. The duo were All-Star teammates in 2009 and 2011, two of Cain’s three All-Star nods, and two of Lincecum’s four.

They combined for nine of the Giants’ 22 postseason wins during the team’s World Series runs in 2010 and 2012. They were two of the biggest driving forces, along with their catcher Buster Posey, in turning the Giants from a perennial sub-.500 team into the team of the 2010’s. Simply put, they helped bring the Giants to heights the franchise had never seen. They were the leaders of that team of misfits and outcasts. They were “The Horse” and “The Freak”.

They earned a lot of money from the Giants. Cain signed an extension with the Giants before the 2012 season worth $112.5 million over five years, making him the highest-paid right-handed pitcher in baseball at the time. Lincecum signed a two-year deal with the Giants after the 2013 season worth $35 million.

August 25, 2015; San Francisco, CA, USA; San Francisco Giants starting pitcher Matt Cain (18) reacts during the fourth inning against the Chicago Cubs at AT&T Park. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports /

2011 was the last season that both pitchers were dominant at the same time. Lincecum pitched to a 2.74 ERA and struck out 200-plus hitters for the fourth straight season as he finished sixth in Cy Young voting. Cain finished with a 2.88 ERA and 1.083 WHIP, both the best numbers of his career to that point, and was eighth in Cy Young voting. Cain had another phenomenal season in his arm, while Lincecum’s downfall began the very next season.

2011 is just five years ago. In the grand scheme of life, five years is a short fraction of time. It’s only 6.4 percent of the average human life expectancy. In baseball, five years means so much more. The average life expectancy of an MLB career is five years. It’s the difference between a player being an All-Star, and the same player being on the streets without a job. In short, five years is an eternity in the baseball world. And so much has changed for the two former Giants’ ace in that short, half-decade span.

Lincecum and Cain are no longer the leaders of the misfits and outcasts that wander in and out of the Giants’ clubhouse. Instead, Cain is a misfit. He’s a 31-year-old pitcher learning to pitch again with a new arm slot. Lincecum is an outcast. He’s not a Giant anymore. In fact, he has no clubhouse to call home at all. He’s a 31-year-old pitcher coming off hip surgery, and no one really knows what’s going on with him.

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Both players have been betrayed by their own bodies. Bone chips in Cain’s right arm, chips that had been there since high school, became too bothersome after shifting around and Cain needed to have them removed. That right arm, the same arm that had pitched so many innings wearing an orange and black uniform, suddenly had full range of motion. After learning to pitch without the full range, and doing so very effectively, Cain could move his arm in a way he was not used to, and had to learn to pitch with this basically brand new arm.

Lincecum’s fastball velocity began to dip. After averaging 94.1 miles per hour on his heater in 2008, his first Cy Young season, Lincecum averaged 87.2 miles per hour on the fastball in 2015. That nearly seven-mile drop made Lincecum’s already-suspect control even worse. Hitters could lay off that devastating split-finger changeup that Lincecum rode to so many K’s, and pounce when that slow fastball came strolling up to the plate. A lingering hip injury was revealed in 2015, surgery followed, and the next step of his career remains a mystery.

Cain’s hold on his job as the Giants’ fifth starter is tenuous, at best. A flexor tendon strain last Spring Training and surgery to remove a cyst in his pitching arm this spring have crippled Cain’s exhibition periods, holding him back at a time where he should be figuring out the arm slot. He seems ready to go with his first start of the regular season on the horizon, but there’s no telling what Cain will show up when he toes the rubber next Friday at AT&T Park against the hated Los Angeles Dodgers.

But Cain’s former running mate isn’t so lucky just yet. Lincecum is still unsigned with opening day less than a week away. His personal showcase, where he would throw for teams to show he’s healthy again and ready to pitch, has been pushed back continuously. His father, Chris, has said that teams were willing to sign him without seeing him throw, but the pen has not yet been put to paper. Maybe the surgery didn’t have the desired effect. Maybe he just isn’t ready to throw. Maybe the right offer just hasn’t come in. Whether “The Freak” pitches in 2016 or not is as enigmatic as Lincecum’s breaking balls were early in his career.

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Cain has a chance to revive his career in San Francisco, the same city that he helped revive just a few short years ago. Lincecum may not be afforded the same luxury. His time in the City by the Bay is almost certainly over, even though his baseball career may not be.

Madison Bumgarner is the ace now, taking the crown as number-one pitcher and postseason hero. Johnny Cueto and Jeff Samardzija were signed as free agents in the offseason to help suffuse the hole left in the rotation by the former aces. Chris Heston is waiting in the bullpen in case Cain falters. “In case Cain falters” is a phrase that wouldn’t dare be spoken five years ago.

Those contracts don’t look great in hindsight. Cain has pitched one great season after signing his big deal before his downfall began. Lincecum inked his deal after two bad seasons, and pitched two more bad seasons after the deal. Despite that, they undoubtedly earned those deals. Cain made $16.3 million in his first six full seasons as a big leaguer. Lincecum made $1.055 million in his two Cy Young years. They earned the pay upgrades they were given.

Next: Giants' Roster Just About Set Ahead of Opening Day

In just five years’ time, the once-dynamic duo of Lincecum and Cain have gone from the highest of highs to the lowest of lows. That’s the game of baseball. The peaks are high, but the valleys are lower. Both pitchers have deep valleys to climb out of in 2016.

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