Tim Lincecum Has Resurfaced and is Eyeing Another Big League Comeback

After a year away from the game and in anonymity in 2017, Tim Lincecum has resurfaced and is eyeing another big league comeback.

You remember Tim Lincecum, right? That diminutive dynamo, the right-hander with the overly strange delivery who spent a brief, but beautifully spectacular time as the best pitcher in the major leagues? He’s back!

After spending a year away from the game in 2017, a year in which he basically vanished off the map, Lincecum resurfaced this week when Adam Ottavino posted a picture of him on Instagram early Tuesday morning. The picture, which showed a short-haired Lincecum looking like he’s been hitting the gym vigorously, created quite a stir. Hushed whispers of a comeback attempt began, and those whispers turned into an uproar on Tuesday.

Kyle Boddy, founder and owner of Driveline Baseball, confirmed that Lincecum is working out at his Driveline facility and is planning a showcase for major league teams soon (on twitter). The New York Times did a profile on Boddy and his “velocity school” in September, including his work with major league success stories Trevor Bauer and Dan Straily.

That should be encouraging for any Lincecum fans, and there are certainly plenty still out there. Straily threw his fastball with an average velocity of 90.7 miles per hour last year, his best since 2013. He was durable for the Miami Marlins in 2017, making 33 starts with a good 4.26 ERA and 1.299 WHIP, while also striking out a career-best 8.4 batters per nine innings.

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But Driveline doesn’t just help pitchers regain (or find) velocity on their fastballs, it teaches them how to throw it. In Bauer’s case, his fastball velocity was in line with his career totals, but he had better command of it. He struck out a career-high 10 batters per nine innings while walking a career-low 3.06 per nine.

Lincecum has a lot of work to do to get to a level where he can even be considered for a major league job. The last time he took the field for a club, he was a shell of the pitcher that became the first to win Cy Young Awards in his first two full seasons. He made nine starts in 2016, and pitched to a 9.16 ERA and 2.374 WHIP, struck out 7.5 batters per nine, and allowed 11 home runs in just 38.1 innings.

It’s a far cry from the pitcher that debuted in 2007, bringing so much hope for the Giants’ future with him. It wasn’t all sunshines and rainbows that first year, but there were plenty of signs that Lincecum was going to live up to the hype, and live up to it he did.

In 2008 and 2009, he made 65 starts and one relief appearance, and he was electric. The righty went 33-12 with a 2.55 ERA, 1.110 WHIP, led the majors in strikeouts both years, and took home the Cy Young Award for both seasons. He was then the ace of the team’s World Series-winning pitching staff, throwing a complete game, two-hit shutout while striking out 14 in his first postseason effort. In 2012, though he wasn’t great in the regular season, he made a strong impact out of the bullpen.

That guy is long gone, though. His last year as an elite big league pitcher was 2011, and his last season as an solid one was 2013, with an awful year in between those two. In his last five years, he threw to a 4.94 ERA and 1.459 WHIP, and struck out under a batter per inning.

A team is going to take a flyer on Lincecum, if for nothing but name value alone. The chance to see this one-time superstar take the mound again, and maybe rekindle that magic, is going to put some butts in seats. There’s nothing wrong with hope, and a team and fanbase is going to hope that Lincecum can, at the very least, become a

Maybe there’s still a little something left in that tank. Maybe Driveline is just the thing he needs to get his fastball back a place where it can survive big league hitting. But if it’s still hovering in the 80s, like the 88.4 mph average fastball he threw with the Angels, that probably won’t get it done.

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It sure would be fun to see Lincecum take the mound again for a major league team, though, wouldn’t it? Best wishes to him as he begins the comeback journey again.