Tim Lincecum’s MLB season is over.
Los Angeles Angels general manager Billy Eppler told the Orange County Register, the club wouldn’t call up the former Cy Young winner for the remainder of the season.
“We’ve made a decision to stay with the numbers we have and divide the innings and at-bats with the guys in this room,” he said.
It’s an interesting call to make, not only because of Lincecum’s high profile, but because manager Mike Scioscia previously said Lincecum was a call-up candidate following Matt Shoemaker’s head injury. Scioscia now admits Lincecum wasn’t able to find a groove in 2016.
“There are some things that Tim just wasn’t able to harness right now,” Scioscia said. “It’s impossible to do that at the major league level, but it certainly was worth the time he put in to hopefully understand what he needs to do in the offseason and what he needs to do next year to pitch.”
You can’t blame Eppler for passing on a call-up for Lincecum, as the 32-year-old has been horrible in nine starts with the Angels. He’s gone 2-6 with a 9.16 ERA (a 7.17 FIP) and a 2.37 WHIP. His mechanics were out of whack and Lincecum looked far removed from the two-time NL Cy Young winner of 2008 and 2009. Lincecum has pitched OK in seven minor league starts, but wasn’t owed anything. The one-year, $2.5 million prorated contract was a total bust, but in this day and age, that’s a small drop in the bucket – especially for a large market, high payroll team like the Angels.
Lincecum, as sad as it is, looks done. It’s time for him to transition into a bullpen role and reinvent himself, because whatever he’s doing now isn’t working. It’s a shame we won’t see “The Freak” for the rest of 2016.
