Tim Lincecum Throws Second No Hitter

Tim Lincecum has thrown his second career no hitter against the Padres. The first time he pitched a no hitter Lincecum was in San Diego and threw a career high amount of pitches at 148 in part due to 13 strikeouts and 4 walks. This time he threw a significantly lower amount of pitches at 113. In this no hitter Lincecum recorded 6 strikeouts and allowed just one walk. Lincecum not only pitched a no hitter, but he got 2 hits and scored 2 runs, followed by a walk in the 8th inning. He did it all on this special Wednesday afternoon.

Lincecum's season seems to be a repeat of his 2013 season with plenty of ups and downs. Last season he finished with a 4.37 ERA. This season he now has a 4.42 ERA with a 6-5 record and 83 strikeouts. The small framed right hander now has 2 Cy Young Awards, 2 World Series, and 2 no hitters, giving him a very nice track record.

2014 has been a very exciting season and has already featured three no hitters, all three coming from the National League West. The outing by Josh Beckett against the Philadelphia Phillies, the near perfect game against the Colorado Rockies by Clayton Kershaw, and now Tim Lincecum's no hitter against the San Diego Padres. It is safe to say the National League West is one of the most exciting divisions to watch. The San Francisco Giants lead the Dodgers by just 3.5 games. It will be very entertaining to watch down the stretch, and Lincecum will be a very big part of it.

No No Timmy

One of my favorite pitchers has finally completed his share of history. He is a two time Cy Young Award winner, a two time World Series Champion, and now he has thrown a no hitter. I'm talking the Freakshow himself, Tim Lincecum. It was just a regular Saturday night start against the Padres, but 148 pitches later Petco Park and the Giants went wild.

Although Lincecum and the Giants have been short of success this season, this may be the turning point of their season. With a fantastic pitching performance
from Lincecum and sending four players to the All Star Game, along with the upcoming trade deadline, the Giants should get ready for their run to the playoffs. I predicted they would make the playoffs, and i'm sticking with it.

Lincecum will have more than a week to recover from the 148 pitch performance, but it doesn't even bother me that much. I've seen Lincecum throw over 130 pitches before and an extra 15 shouldn't faze him. He was mechanically sound the whole game and didnt try to throw any harder as it when on. He actually relied more on his breaking and off speed pitches in the final three innings more than his fastball, making him nearly unpredictable.

He's Back!

Tim Lincecum is back. The two time Cy Young Award winner is once again pitching like he used to. Before the All Star Break Lincecum's ERA was 6.42 and now it is down to 5.11. It may not seem like a big jump, but the more game you pitch the harder it is to lower a stat. Since the All Star Break Lincecum has a 3.22 ERA, but has come up big in important games. He pitched in both games that were a must win against the Dodgers. The end result was not necessarily a win for Lincecum, but a win for the Giants.

The Giants no longer allow Buster Posey to be the catcher in games that Lincecum pitches. I stated this in one of my previous posts, but I don't like to brag. This system works well for everybody. Lincecum pitches better, Sanchez gets some playing time, and Posey moves to first base to get his bat in the lineup more often.

Lincecum's next start is in Colorado. Now you know where to go, to see the Tim Lincecum Show.

What is Wrong With Lincecum

Tim Lincecum has had 3 rocky starts this season. This is not the Lincecum that won 2 Cy Young awards and led the league in strikeouts in 3 out of 5 seasons with The Giants.

In his 3 starts this season Lincecum has pitched 13 2/3 innings and given up 16 runs on 22 hits and 4 walks. Lincecum's velocity on his fastball has drooped to 90.3 in 2012 and that is bad because his change up velocity remains the same. This makes a smaller gap between the velocity of his fastball and change up, therefore making his change up more hitable. This is also very bad because his change up is his out-pitch.

Lincecum's pitch percentage

The percentage of fastballs thrown has also decreased dramatically. In 2010 Lincecum threw his fastball only 37.9% of the time and his ERA was a career high 3.43. This season Lincecum is throwing his fastball 36.7% of the time and his ERA is 10.54.

Another thing that may be causing Lincecum's troubles may be the person who calls the pitches. In 2010 Lincecum had his worst season to date and he had a new catcher in Buster Posey. In 2010 Popsey caught 75 games and in 2011 Lincecum had a bounce back season and posted a 2.74 ERA. Also in 2011 Posey was injured and only caught 41 games. In 2010 Posey caught about half of Lincecum's games and in 2011 Posey only caught about a forth of his games. This may be a problem along with the velocity drop.

Lincecum's unorthodox delivery 

Lincecum had his best 2 seasons when Bengie Molina was the starting catcher and when he was traded to the Rangers in 2010 his stats began to decline. Lincecum has to continue to work to get his velocity back. In the first few starts of the season the velocity of pitchers isn't where it will be mid season, but this is actually something to be concerned about. I think Lincecum will have a bounce back start in the series against The Mets this weekend.