Tag: Tim Lincecum (Page 5 of 14)

      When scouts overreact to an athlete’s struggles

      September 8, 2010 /
      San Francisco Giants starting pitcher Tim Lincecum delivers a pitch to the St. Louis Cardinals in the second inning at Busch Stadium in St. Louis on August 21, 2010. UPI/Bill Greenblatt Photo via Newscom

      Baseball scouts have long been waiting for Tim Lincecum to fall apart.

      He’s too small.

      His delivery is going to lead to problems down the road.

      His hair is too long. (This one I actually agree with.)

      I swear, every time his velocity drops from one pitch to the next, someone starts hammering away on their keyboard predicting that Lincecum’s arm is going to disintegrate on the mound one day.

      There’s no question that the 26-year-old two-time Cy Young winner has struggled this season. I’ve written about his struggles here at The Scores Report, so I’m not going to make light of the fact that he went 0-5 in the month of August with a 7.82 ERA.

      But I almost fell out of my chair when I read a recent column by FOX Sports.com’s Ken Rosenthal, who spoke to a scout that had this to say about Lincecum’s future:

      Continue reading »

      External Sports, MLB

      Mikey’s MLB power rankings

      August 28, 2010 /

      Wow, things are getting wild. The Rays and Yanks are now tied for first in the AL East, and the Red Sox are not going away. The Padres have a commanding 6-game lead. The Braves have lost four straight, but the Phils could not capitalize. The Reds are hot and the Cards are not. The Twins and Rangers have not been hurt by recent mediocre play. So there you have it, and here you have your power rankings….

      1. New York Yankees (78-50)—It was only a matter of time before the Rays caught up, but until Tampa goes ahead in the standings, the Bombers are still the team to beat.

      2. Tampa Bay Rays (78-50)—Joe Maddon’s team sure doesn’t mess around, do they?

      3. San Diego Padres (76-51)—If you keep waiting for the Padres to come back down to earth, you’re going to be waiting until possibly November.

      4. Minnesota Twins (74-55)—Watch out for this team in the postseason. All of a sudden, with Brian Fuentes and Matt Capps, they have a pretty sick bullpen. Joe Nathan who?

      5. Texas Rangers (73-55)—Josh Hamilton has an excellent shot at the triple crown, and this lineup has to send shivers through the collective spine of the Yankees’ pitching staff.

      6. Cincinnati Red (74-54)—Speaking of triple crown, how about Joey Freaking Votto?

      7. Atlanta Braves (73-55)—They can’t sustain losing streaks at this point in the season, but are still hanging tough.

      8. Boston Red Sox (74-55)—In what other division can you be 19 games over .500 and in THIRD place?

      9. Philadelphia Phillies (71-57)—They had their chance to close the gap this past week, and blew it.

      10. San Francisco Giants (71-58)—Lots of talent, but can they put it all together? P.S. What is wrong with Tim Lincecum?

      External Sports, MLB

      Breaking down the 2010 National League Wild Card race

      August 26, 2010 /
      St. Louis Cardinals Albert Pujols receives high fives in the dugout after hitting his second two run home run of the night in the fifth inning against the Arizona Diamondbacks at Busch Stadium in St. Louis on June 29, 2010. UPI/Bill Greenblatt Photo via Newscom

      Before their sweep of the Braves this week, I would have said that the National League Wild Card is a three-team race. But now that the Rockies are putting together a very Rockie-like charge, this is definitely now a four-horse competition in the NL.

      Let’s break down the contenders and make a prediction.

      (Side Note: I’m fully aware that the Phillies and Cardinals still have a great chance of catching the Braves and Reds in their respective divisions, but I’m going by the standings as of Thursday, August 26. In a couple of weeks, I’ll update this list so for now, let’s just call this Version 1.0.)

      Philadelphia Phillies
      Games Remaining: 36
      Games Back: 0
      What I Like About Their Chances: I like the Phillies because quite frankly, they’ve been here before. They know what it takes to play good baseball in the month of September and their roster is chockfull of veteran players. Even though they haven’t shown it of late, the Phils also still have the best lineup 1-8 of any of the four Wild Card contenders and a three-headed monster in Roy Halladay, Roy Oswalt (who has been outstanding in the month of August) and Cole Hamels. This is, by far, the most talented team of the four listed…

      What I Don’t Like: …that said, this club isn’t playing very good baseball right now. In their last seven games, they’ve won only two and they were just swept at home by the Astros. Also, despite all of their offensive firepower, they’ve managed to score just 16 runs in those seven outings. They also have six more games against the Braves, who they are just 5-7 against this season. This is a club that seemingly can’t put it all together this season and you just get the sense that something’s missing.

      Continue reading »

      External Sports, MLB

      This Tim Lincecum just won’t do

      August 11, 2010 /
      San Francisco Giants starting pitcher Tim Lincecum walks back to the dug out after the second inning against the New York Mets at Citi Field in New York City on May 9, 2010. UPI/John Angelillo Photo via Newscom

      Giants fans have been spoiled, I guess. Tim Lincecum goes out and wins two Cy Young Awards in his first three seasons, yet many have found fault in his 11-5 record and 3.15 ERA heading into Tuesday night’s game against the Cubs.

      What’s to be worried about? He’s only striking out one less batter per nine innings than he was last year and has the same walk rate as he did in his first Cy Young season.

      He’s fine! Seriously, he’s fine.

      We’re all fine.

      Then Kosuke Fukudome hits a three-run, 416-foot blast into McCovey Cove off Lincecum in the first inning last night and you realize he’s not fine. He’s far from fine. He’s Kosuke-f’n-Fukudome-just-hit-a-towering-416-foot-home-run-off-him not fine.

      There is no shortage of reasons why Lincecum is struggling right now: He’s getting behind hitters, his command comes and goes, he’s tinkering with his windup too much and his changeup often bounces two feet in front of home plate instead of finding Buster Posey’s catcher mitt.

      He’s struggling. He needs a barber. He’s out of whack. He’s in a funk. Please cut that thing, Tim.

      Continue reading »

      External Sports, MLB

      Don Mattingly helps Dodgers find new way to lose

      July 21, 2010 /
      Los Angeles Dodgers hitting coach Don Mattingly watches the action against the St. Louis Cardinals in the second inning at Busch Stadium in St. Louis on July 18, 2010. St. Louis won the game 5-4. UPI/Bill Greenblatt Photo via Newscom

      You know things are going badly for your club when Bruce Bochy does something to get the best of you.

      During the ninth inning of the Dodgers-Giants game last night, L.A. hitting coach Don Mattingly walked out to the mound to talk to closer Jonathan Broxton, who had once again gotten into trouble for the second time in three days. With the Dodgers leading 5-4, Broxton allowed an infield single by Juan Uribe to start the inning, then walked Edgar Renteria before recording the first out when Aaron Rowand laid down a sacrifice bunt.

      After Aubrey Huff was intentionally walked to load the bases, Mattingly came out to the mound to lay out the plan of attack with Broxton and his infield. But when he stepped off the mound and into the grass, then went back onto the mound to answer a question from first baseman James Loney, it counted as two visits. Bochy, or “Eagle Eyes” as his drinking buddies like to call him, noticed the gaffe and immediately complained about it to home plate umpire Adrian Johnson.

      Continue reading »

      External Sports, MLB

      « Older posts Newer posts »

      © 2026 The Scores Report – The National Sports Blog

      Theme by Anders Noren — Up ↑