Report: Lincecum recovering well, plans to hold January showcase
Tim Lincecum, the two-time Cy Young award winner and first-time free agent, is reportedly ahead of schedule in his recovery from hip surgery and plans to hold a showcase for interested clubs in January, provided he doesn't sign a contract before then, Yahoo's Jeff Passan reports.
Lincecum - who was expected to need five months of recovery time after having a torn labrum and impingement repaired in September - will visit his surgeon in California next month, at which point the 31-year-old could be cleared to start throwing.
Though Lincecum has generated interest from multiple teams, the four-time All-Star will need to regain at least some of the velocity that tailed off over the last few seasons in order to inspire compelling offers - especially, as Passan notes, because he wants to remain a starter.
| Year | FB VELO (MPH) | ERA | K% | HR/9 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 93.09 | 2.74 | 24.4% | 0.62 |
| 2012 | 91.54 | 5.18 | 23% | 1.11 |
| 2013 | 91.35 | 4.37 | 23% | 0.96 |
| 2014 | 90.36 | 4.74 | 19.9% | 1.10 |
| 2015 | 88.74 | 4.13 | 18% | 0.83 |
Lincecum, the 10th overall pick in the 2006 draft, helped the Giants to three World Series championship throughout his nine-year tenure in San Francisco, but started just 15 games - a career-low - in an injury-marred 2015 campaign.
Though he finished the season with a 4.13 ERA, his numbers were inflated by two brutal outings in June - his last two outings before his season-ending surgery - wherein he allowed eight runs over three innings. Not including those last two starts, Lincecum crafted a 3.31 ERA this season, posting an 11 percent swinging-strike rate while limiting opponents to a .237 average over 73 1/3 innings.