Tim

Lincecum

He fanned five. Lincecum had 10 strikeouts in four scoreless innings for SS Single-A Salem-Keiser before being promoted. The 2006 first-round pick could join the Giants in September.

Is is too early to call him up to close? Lincecum, the 10th overall pick in the 2006 draft, has fanned 10 while allowing one hit and no walks in four innings as a pro. Of all the players from this year’s draft, he might be the closest to contributing. Still, the Giants have elected to go slowly with him after he was worked hard during the college season.

A smallish right-hander, Lincecum racked up incredible strikeout numbers at the University of Washington. Some scouts think he’d be better off in a relief role and if that’s how the Giants choose to use him Lincecum could be in the majors soon.

Lincecum has a 3.18 ERA in 17 innings since moving up to Single-A San Jose. Overall, the 2006 first-round pick has 38 strikeouts in 21 innings as a pro.

The performance earned the 2006 first-round pick his first win as a pro. Lincecum has a 2.92 ERA and 18 strikeouts in 12 1/3 innings for San Jose. He could join the Giants as a reliever in September.

Lincecum, who was mentioned as a possible option for the Royals with the first overall pick, will begin his pro career at SS Single-A Salem-Keiser. The Giants will likely develop him as a starter, but there’s a slight chance he could make his major league debut as a reliever late in the season if the club is still in the race.

Lincecum’s 1.71 ERA and 58/12 K/BB ratio in 31 2/3 innings as a pro won’t earn him a September callup apparently, but he’ll definitely be someone to watch out for next year.

Lincecum walked just one and reportedly hit 98 mph on the gun. His performance suggests the Giants might have made a mistake not calling him up to pitch out of the bullpen this month.

Lincecum is back over .500, as the Giants scored three runs in one of his starts for the first time in a month. While he hasn’t pitched quite as well as he did in his Cy Young seasons, Lincecum has a chance to finish with the lowest ERA of his career. He’s at 2.59 right now. His best mark was 2.48 from 2009.

He struck out three. Lincecum posted non-quality starts in three of his last six outings, which qualifies as a pretty bad drought for him. Despite falling below .500 to 13-14, Lincecum had another marvelous year, holding a 2.74 ERA and 1.21 WHIP while striking out 220 over 217 innings.