San Francisco, CA. Tim Lincecum may be looking at the end of his career at the young age of 28. Gone are the days of pitchers like Nolan Ryan and Roger Clemens pitching late into their thirties and into their forties. Pitchers just burn out earlier in their careers now due to the pressure to win, and expectations of young players to make it to the Majors before they are ready. Lincecum hit his prime in 2008, winning his first of two Cy Young awards following up with a repeat in 2009, becoming the first player in Major League history to win the Cy Young award in their first two full seasons. In 2010, Lincecum pitched game 5 of the World Series and helped secure a championship for the San Francisco Giants.
2012 came around and Tim Lincecum was signed to a two-year, $40.5 million contract, making him a free agent after the 2013 season, as the pressure of the big contract seems to have gotten to him. In 26 starts this year Lincecum is 7-13 with a 5.30 ERA vs a career ERA of 3.27. So far in 2012, Lincecum has 151 strikeouts but has also given up 150 hits and 15 home runs. It seems as though Lincecum has fallen victim to a dead arm and lack of confidence.
Major League Baseball has changed since the days of the ace pitcher working his career for 15 plus years. Ace’s now peak in their mid twenties and falter much faster than in the past. Kerry Wood and Ubaldo Jimenez are key examples of pitchers hitting their peak early in life and losing that special talent quickly. Tim Lincecum should take the money and run after 2013 and enjoy the riches he earned with the Giants. Go start an organic fruit farm in Sacramento and play the guitar into the sunset, Tim.
Denver Sports Chat – Kris Loco
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5 comments
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Brendan Quartararo
October 18, 2012 at 2:25 PM (UTC -6) Link to this comment
What? Timmy isn’t going to retire for at least ten years! He’s going to have a long and fabulous career! The shape that he’s in I would say 39 when he retires! That is the norm these days! He won’t retire at the ripe young age of 28!
Kris Loco
August 25, 2012 at 9:50 AM (UTC -6) Link to this comment
Other than the A$$ comment I appreciate what you are saying. Pitching has always been the cornerstone to success in the NL West and SF is the prime example of how to build an excellent pitching staff. The Rockies are an example of how not to build a staff for the NL West. It seems for years to come SF and LA will be battling for the NL West title with the Rockies and Padres at the bottom.
Kris Loco
August 25, 2012 at 9:47 AM (UTC -6) Link to this comment
Just an opinion based article. Thanks for the positive feedback though! I actually like Lincecum and I hope he can turn things around in the future.
Doug
August 25, 2012 at 5:32 AM (UTC -6) Link to this comment
i have to agree with Tom here. You are uninformed. As a Padre fan and a fan of the National League West, I thin I know more about pitching then this A$$, since the Padres have had a great staff for more then a few years. I am not an SF fan but got to watch them play a bunch since I lived in the area for 13 years. Im sure Tim will bounce back next year, but SF is stepping up big time anyway. Tim may go after 2013, to a big market team he will still have some gas in the tank.
Tanned Tom
August 25, 2012 at 2:39 AM (UTC -6) Link to this comment
Wow, what a lame article. Pitchers don’t play into their late 30′s? That’s pretty uninformed. Perhaps it would help if you actually followed baseball for more than 4 years before starting to write about. I sure hope no one paid you for this crap, because it seems like the work of a temp with a bad attitude.