Tim Lincecum has agreed to a deal with the Texas Rangers
“The Freak” has returned, as two-time NL Cy Young Award winner, four-time All-Star, and three-time World Series Champion Tim Lincecum has agreed to a one-year contract with the Texas Rangers. Lincecum’s last MLB appearance was also in the AL West, when he went 2-6 with a 9.16 ERA with the Los Angeles Angels in 2016, giving up 68 hits and allowing 23 walks over the course of 38.1 innings. In total, Lincecum, 33, had a 2.374 WHIP in nine starts with the Angels, ultimately getting released after allowing six earned runs against the Mariners on August 5, 2016.
After not throwing a pitch throughout the entire 2017 season, Lincecum bulked up and has said he is fully recovered from the hip injury that limited him in 2016, and caused him to get surgery for a torn labrum. After his fastball averaged 88.4 miles per hour in 2016, Lincecum threw for an estimated 25-30 scouts at a showcase earlier this month, where scouts reported his fastball sat between 90-93 miles per hour. While Lincecum is not expected to initially compete for a spot in the Rangers rotation, there have been rumblings he may compete for their closer’s role. It is expected that the Rangers closer race will be wide open, given left-hander Alex Claudio tops out at 86 miles per hour, and right-hander Matt Bush has publically stated his desire to compete for a spot in the starting rotation.
From 2008-2011, Lincecum was arguably the best pitcher in all of baseball, making four straight All-Star appearances, and winning back-to-back Cy Young Awards from 2008-2009. Over that stretch, Lincecum went 62-36 with a 2.81 ERA, 1.173 WHIP, 977 K, a 143 ERA+, and 23.3 WAR over 881.2 innings pitched. Although used mostly as a starter throughout his career, Lincecum does have some experience as a relief pitcher, most notably during the 2012 postseason where he threw 4.2 scoreless innings against the Detroit Tigers in the World Series, striking out eight. It is the Rangers’ hope that if only asked to pitch one to two innings at a time, that Lincecum can regain some of the stuff that made him one of the game’s elite pitchers once upon a time. For his career, Lincecum is 110-89 with a 3.74 ERA, 1.293 WHIP, 1736 strikeouts, 21.1 WAR, and two career no-hitters.
Lincecum is the fifth pitcher the Rangers have acquired this offseason, joining free-agent signings Doug Fister, Bartolo Colon, and Mike Minor, as well as trade acquisition Matt Moore. Other than Minor, the rest of the Rangers projected pitching rotation while Martin Perez recovers from injury (including ace Cole Hamels) is coming off of down seasons in 2017, with only Minor producing a positive WAR total amongst the new pitchers in 2017.
- Cole Hamels: 11-6, 4.20 ERA, 1.203 WHIP, 148.0 IP, 105 K, 2.8 WAR
- Doug Fister: 5-9, 4.88 ERA, 1.384 WHIP, 90.1 IP, 83 K, 0.0 WAR
- Matt Moore: 6-15, 5.52 ERA, 1.532 WHIP, 174.1 IP, 148 K, -0.4 WAR
- Mike Minor: 6-6, 2.55 ERA, 1.017 WHIP, 77.2 IP, 88 K, 6 SV, 2.8 WAR
- Bartolo Colon: 7-14, 6.48 ERA, 1.587 WHIP, 143.0 IP, 89 K, -2.2 WAR
On the surface, it appears that Rangers President of Baseball Operations Jon Daniels has assembled a veteran band of misfit toys to try and fill out the Rangers pitching rotation this season. This is certainly the case, as Minor worked primarily as a relief pitcher last season, Lincecum didn’t pitch at all, and Colon, Moore, and Fister were largely ineffective. However, when you look at this rotation through a different lens, perhaps Jon Daniels’ master plan becomes a little bit clearer.
From 2010-2013, the Rangers won over 90 games each season, making the playoffs in three out of four seasons, and reaching the World Series twice. After coming off of a 95 win season in 2016 and falling below .500 last year with a 78-84 record, the Rangers needed to do something drastic, as unfortunately, Yu Darvish was not walking back in the door for the amount of money he was commanding as a free agent. With that in mind, maybe Daniels set out to do something outside the box; a return to the glory days of the Rangers organization, back to the days of Nelson Cruz swatting home runs, an Ian Kinsler and Elvis Andrus middle infield, and Michael Young leading in the clubhouse. Unable to go after the big arms on the free agent market such as Lance Lynn, Jake Arrieta, or Alex Cobb, perhaps Daniels decided to do something different, which in the case was to assemble the best pitching rotation that 2013 has to offer.
As it stands now, the Rangers rotation is an absolute mess. But if you turn back the clock to 2013, Daniels would have one of baseball’s best rotations on his hands, as Colon and Moore made the All-Star team, and Minor and Fister had their most valuable seasons in the MLB. While Lincecum had a down year that season, the fact that he would be the number six starter after throwing 197.2 innings pitched in 2013 speaks volumes to how good this rotation would have been. Below is a look at each new pitcher on the Rangers 2013 season, along with Cole Hamels’.
- Cole Hamels, 8-14, 3.60 ERA, 1.159 WHIP, 220.0 IP, 202 K, 4.6 WAR
- Bartolo Colon, 18-6, 2.65 ERA, 1.166 WHIP, 190.1 IP, 117 K, 5.0 WAR
- Doug Fister, 14-9, 3.67 ERA, 1.308 WHIP, 208.2 IP, 159 K, 4.1 WAR
- Mike Minor, 13-9, 3.21 ERA, 1.090 WHIP, 204.2 IP, 181 K, 3.1 WAR
- Matt Moore, 17-4, 3.29 ERA, 1.297 WHIP, 150.1 IP, 143 K, 2.6 WAR
- Tim Lincecum, 10-14, 4.37 ERA, 1.315 WHIP, 197.2 IP, 193 K, -0.6 WAR
When the worst pitcher in your rotation throws for almost 200 innings and strikes out almost 200 batters with a FIP of 3.74, you know that you’ve assembled a very talented group of arms. Sadly for Rangers fans, the year is 2018, meaning that the numbers above occurred five years ago; it is almost a near certainty that other than Hamels, none of these pitchers come close to touching their successes from 2013. The Rangers rotation should be nothing short of a roller coaster this season, but if you’re playing MLB The Show 14 and want to give the Rangers their current rotation, boy would you have one hell of a squad.
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- Tim Lincecum
