​Free Baseball with Dave Brown: Tim Lincecum Tries To Get His Freak On Again

For it being early May and all, Major League Baseball features some big games this weekend. The Nationals visit the Cubs, in what could be an NLCS preview. The Pirates face the Cardinals in another series with possible postseason implications (most likely for the wild card, but still). The Dodgers play the Blue Jays at Toronto, which gives Yasiel Puig and enthusiastic Rogers Centre fans a chance to create an international incident on a truly global scale. And even though many of us claim to have gotten sick of them long ago, you never know what gems might be unearthed when the Red Sox play the Yankees in games that inevitably last five hours. They're David Ortiz's next-to-next-to-next-to-etc. last games at Yankee Stadium, as well. Worth at least a peek.

And that's not all. There is, as the great baseball scout Yoda famously said, another. There's a game with different implications—not necessarily with playoff implications, but maybe those too, if everything goes right. It's a one-man game, being played by a wispy 5-foot-11 pitcher with a freaky whirling dervish delivery and, at least in the mind's eye, the long black hair of a skateboarding teenager. He also happened to be the best pitcher in baseball not that long ago.

Tim Lincecum is pitching for his career Friday afternoon in a personal showcase at Scottsdale Stadium. It's familiar turf to him, because it's where the San Francisco Giants train during the spring, which means it's where Lincecum prepared in 2008 and 2009, his first full seasons in the majors, when he won the NL Cy Young Award. It's where he prepared to be the pitcher who led the league in strikeouts from 2008-10, racking up a ridiculous 977 whiffs through 2011. And this was when the league as a whole wasn't quite as strikeout happy as it is today. Lincecum struck guys out when it wasn't as cool to do so. A hipster of sorts, and as much fun to watch as any player at the time.

So, it's on a mound in a home ballpark, and it's just pitching, but it's also a wildly unfamiliar circumstance for Lincecum, because he is having to try out for a major league job, like some geek off the street. Lincecum is coming off four mostly miserable seasons that put his career in peril at age 31. Lincecum used to throw in the upper 90s, but a year ago was down to the mid-80s. His strikeout rates plummeted, from a high of nearly 29 percent in 2009 to 18 percent in 2015. He has posted a 4.68 ERA over his past 106 starts. He made just 15 starts last season, and barely broke five innings per outing. Lincecum has pitched poorly and without endurance. What else is there?

In 2015, Lincecum had 6 of 13 starts finish before 5+, in 2014 it was 10/21 that didnt go past 5+. — KD (@KennedyKr_is)May 5, 2016

That's what scouts want to find out at Scottsdale Stadium: What does Lincecum have left to give? One reason for Lincecum's recent misery was a damaged hip, which doctors repaired in September. The surgeon shaved bone off and repaired a torn labrum. A "torn labrum" sounds bad but, as Dan Wade wrote in Hardball Times, it's not necessarily a career-killer.

Assuming the successful completion of their rehab program, pitchers shouldn't have noticeably worse outcomes after undergoing labral repair, though a pitcher with an extreme wind up—Hideo Nomo comes to mind—and a tear on his back leg would likely need additional time to get his full strength back. Lincecum's repair was done on his landing leg, but his high lift, trunk tilt, and drive put an atypical amount of strain on the joint, which may help explain why he's progressing a bit more cautiously.

The initial reports ominously described Lincecum's injury as degenerative, which would complicate his recovery and, depending on how much damage to the joint had already occurred, limit the extent to which he would fully recover. However, after performing the operation, his surgeon, Marc Philippon, categorized the damage not as degenerative but as relatively normal wear-and-tear; he was also bullish on Lincecum's ability to recover some of the velocity he has lost.

Although the information is coming from his own camp and should be taken with caution, Lincecum is said to be throwing in the low 90s now, which—along with a healthy hip and a stronger physique overall—should be fast enough for him to catch on with someone.

The Giants will be one of at least 20 teams reportedly with scouts in attendance. Lincecum has said he wants to continue to start—only eight of his 269 career appearances in the regular season have come in relief—and Giants general manager Bobby Evans has said they want him only he's coming from the bullpen. They could change their minds, of course, and given that the back end of the Giants rotation (Jake Peavy and Matt Cain) has allowed 50 earned runs in its first 56 innings combined, it might be prudent to consider Lincecum again. In any case, the Giants organization at large will have a presence at the showcase, with Comcast reportedly wanting to live stream it with Giants analyst Shawn Estes providing commentary.

But Lincecum doesn't have to make his comeback with the Giants. Lots of other places make sense, in theory. Every team on the West Coast, probably a preference for Lincecum, will be watching his showcase showdown. The first-place White Sox, who just designated their fifth starter, John Danks, for assignment, have an opening and lots of money to spend. The Rangers, the Orioles, the Cubs, the Astros—even the pitching-rich Nationals would welcome him. Who doesn't have interest? Reportedly, the two New York teams, plus everyone in the AL East, aside from Baltimore. (Shouldn't the Yankees be interested in anybody who might help?)

Lincecum has been quiet, even silent, since speaking to the media about recovery from surgery in September. Lincecum's original plan was to arrive in Arizona in mid-January and, a week later, find a new employer. Well, here we are, about 15 weeks later, with the process still unresolved. The mysterious details of his offseason workouts, with promises of a "showcase" to come, became something of a running joke on Twitter because of posts like this from Jon Heyman:

Tim lincecum has been throwing every day at a secret location near phoenix with trainer and father at side. Showcase coming

— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman)February 12, 2016

It's been no joke to Lincecum, of course. He's just playing it close to the vest. Only on Wednesday did Lincecum finally speak to the media about his progress, telling Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports why he has been secretive:

"It helps me feel comfortable. It's kind of like a scientist going to work on something in his garage and not unveiling it until he's ready to. That's kind of what it feels like."

Lincecum says he is ready now, which should excite fans. Even if he's not the skinny spitfire of he used to be, he might be able to make it work with the physical tools he still has and the mental ones he has acquired with experience.

"Back in my early 20s, I felt like I was invincible," Lincecum said. "Now I kind of have an idea of the tools I get to work with and how to stay within myself and at the same time be dynamic. I want to be explosive with certain parts of the body and not be apprehensive. It has taken time to get there."

The MLB season has been fine so far, with the Cubs run-differential-ing their opponents into oblivion, and with Bryce Harper and Mike Trout sparring to be named the best player in the game. But the 2016 season could use something more.

Major League Baseball is much better with its Freak on.