Atomic RoadRunners | Andrew Flynn’s High-Energy Fantasy Baseball

Tim Lincecum was hospitalized Tuesday with flulike symptoms, and it appeared the San Francisco Giants pitcher was likely to miss his first All-Star game. Lincecum was taken from his hotel to a Manhattan hospital after feeling ill early in the day, said Katy Feeney, senior vice president in the commissioner’s office. The right-hander was not at his locker between National League starter Ben Sheets and Edinson Volquez about 2 1/2 hours before the scheduled first pitch. His jersey and a Giants hat hung untouched on a hook on the wall as the NL team headed to the field for batting practice. Giants reliever Brian Wilson said he hadn’t spoken to Lincecum, who missed the All-Star Game Red Carpet Parade on Tuesday. “I think it was just one of those things that just hit him this morning,” said Wilson, who was left to ride alone in the back of a pickup truck up Sixth Avenue in Manhattan.

Lincecum was among several pitchers on the NL roster who threw Sunday, giving manager Clint Hurdle a tired group for the Midsummer Classic. Lincecum struck out nine over eight innings to beat fellow All-Star Ryan Dempster and the Cubs. The 24-year-old Lincecum, 11-2 in his second year with the Giants, leads the major leagues with 135 strikeouts. His 2.57 ERA is fourth best among starters, and he’s lost just once in his last 14 starts. This flu bug should be out of the way in time for his next start, which is tentatively scheduled for Sunday against Milwaukee, so continue to start him in all Fantasy formats. (CBS Sports)

Tim Lincecum held the Cubs to one run over eight innings Sunday and the Giants topped the Cubs 4-2. Lincecum was great once again. He fanned nine and issued just one walk while collecting his first career triple. The performance allows him to take a 2.57 ERA and an 11-2 record into his first All-Star game. (Rotoworld)

Tim Lincecum lost for just the second time all season Tuesday when he allowed four runs and two homers over six innings against the Mets. Mike Pelfrey outpitched All-Star Tim Lincecum to win his fifth straight start, and the surging New York Mets beat the San Francisco Giants 7-0. Carlos Beltran hit a three-run homer in the first inning and Carlos Delgado also connected off Lincecum (10-2) to help the Mets win their fourth in a row. Lincecum, selected to his first All-Star team Sunday, allowed a season-high nine hits in six innings. He struck out four, increasing his NL-high total to 126, and walked two. The 24-year-old right-hander was 6-0 in 12 starts since his other loss, 3-2 against Colorado on April 29. He had won two straight starts coming into Tuesday’s outing. Lincecum has allowed four or more runs in three of his last five outings, but it’s nothing for Fantasy owners to fret about. The young fireballer is still an elite Fantasy SP thanks to a killer strikeout pitch. His next scheduled start is for Sunday against the Cubs. Lincecum beat the Cubs in his previous outing, allowing three runs in six innings. (CBS Sports)

3B Chipper Jones has been voted as starter for the National League for next week’s All-Star game. Pitchers Brandon Webb, Tim Lincecum, and Brian Wilson were also named to the squad. “A little surprised, yes, because I don’t think I’ve done a super job this year. I’ve done mediocre. But I’ve done a good job saving wins. It was a little surreal, getting a call saying I made the All-Star team,” said Giants closer Brian Wilson, on joining the NL All-Star team. (Rotoworld)

Update (July 11th): Brewers OF Corey Hart was named as the final member of the NL squad for the All-Star game, receiving the most votes in the “Monster All-Star Game Final Vote”. 47 million votes were cast online at MLB.com from Sunday evening to Thursday, and Hart beat out David Wright, Pat Burrell, Aaron Rowand, and Carlos Lee. Evan Longoria of Tampa Bay was voted in by fans for the AL squad.

Giants manager Bruce Bochy plans to shuffle his rotation to get Tim Lincecum two starts before the All-Star break. Lincecum will pitch against the Mets on Tuesday instead of Wednesday, and then throw against the Cubs on Sunday. Kevin Correia will pitch on Wednesday, and only make one start. With the move, Lincecum has been ruled out of starting next Tuesday’s All-Star game. Lincecum is 10-1 with a 2.49 ERA, despite the fact he pitches for one of the more mediocre teams in baseball. He would have been a good candidate to start in the All-Star game, but his many Fantasy owners won’t be caring about that. (Rotoworld, CBS Sports)

Tim Lincecum held the Cubs to three runs over six innings as the Giants went on to an 8-3 victory on Thursday night. Lincecum struck out eight and walked one. He improves to 10-1 on the season and has won his last six decisions. The Giants scored four runs in the second and got a pinch-hit three-run homer from Rich Aurilia in the seventh to break open their lead. (Rotoworld)

In an excellent article on SI.com, Tom Verducci dives deep into the interesting and effective delivery of Tim Lincecum. BP’s Will Carroll says that “This might be the best article I’ve seen on pitching. Ever.”

As if peering around a corner, the Freak tilts his head slightly to the left as he begins his explosive, homemade pitching delivery. What lurks around that corner is either greatness or danger, which makes tiny Tim Lincecum, all 172 pounds of him, the most fascinating pitcher in baseball. Not since Mark (the Bird) Fidrych spoke to baseballs, manicured mounds and baffled hitters more than 30 years ago has a pitcher been this consistent and this captivating from the start of his career. Lincecum does not throw a baseball as much as he launches it, 98-mph rockets somehow expelled, with finely tuned kinetic energy, from a batboy’s body. He scares hitters and scouts alike.

Since his May 2007 call-up Lincecum has been only slightly more challenged by major league hitters. In 40 starts through Sunday, he was 16-6 with a 3.30 ERA and 264 strikeouts in 256 innings. Only one starting pitcher in baseball history, Dwight Gooden of the New York Mets in the mid-’80s, has won 70% of his decisions over his first two seasons while logging more strikeouts than innings.

The normal stride length for a pitcher is 77% to 87% of his height. Lincecum’s stride is 129%, some 7 1/2 feet.

Tim Lincecum overmatched the A’s on Saturday, striking out 11 in seven scoreless innings in a 1-0 win. Lincecum followed up his worst start of the year with one of his best. The 11 strikeouts tied his season high. He fanned 12 in a game a year ago and still hasn’t gotten back there, but it’s not going to be long before he goes and fans 15 in a contest. (Rotoworld)

Tim Lincecum was given leads of 6-0 and 10-3 against the Royals on Sunday but still couldn’t pick up a win as the Giants lost the game 11-10. Lincecum struck out eight and walked just two, but six hits and a couple of wild pitches helped conspire to see him get charged with five runs for the first time this season. The Giants squandered a seven-run lead Sunday against the Royals and ended up costing Tim Lincecum an easy win. San Francisco had 10-3 lead going into the bottom of the fifth. The Royals scored two in the inning on Jose Guillen’s single and Alex Gordon’s sacrifice fly, then sent 11 batters to the plate in a five-run sixth that tied it up. The Royals closed within 10-5 against Lincecum, chasing him after five innings. He allowed six hits, five runs and two walks while striking out eight. He has suffered three straight no decisions.The bullpen was still more to blame as they couldn’t hold a 10-5 lead for four innings, with Keiichi Yabu deserving most of the blame there. Even with the poor outing Lincecum’s ERA is still a sparkling 2.54. (Rotoworld, CBS Sports)

Tigers DH Marcus Thames haunted Giants SP Tim Lincecum on Monday, but the right-hander managed to escape taking a 4-3 loss as San Francisco rallied for a 8-6 win. Lincecum allowed four runs and five hits in seven innings. Two of those hits were homers by Thames, who made it a career-best four straight games with a homer when he connected for a two-out solo shot in the second that was the first hit of the night off Lincecum. Thames then hit a two-run homer in the fourth off Lincecum, who hadn’t allowed a home run in six starts and 42 2/3 innings since the Phillies hit two off him on May 10. The righty walked three and struck out three. Lincecum, who has won four straight decisions, escaped his first loss since April 29 against Colorado. He allowed more than three earned runs for the first time in 20 starts since Aug. 11 last year against Pittsburgh. Now that’s impressive. Lincecum has managed to win eight games even for the lowly Giants, making him look like nothing less than a Fantasy ace in his first full big-league season. Continue to start him in all leagues. His next start is scheduled for Sunday against the Royals. (CBS Sports)

Tim Lincecum shut out the Rockies for seven innings, but didn’t factor into the decision as the Giants lost to the Rockies. Lincecum struck out nine and walked just three while issuing six hits. He hasn’t lost in eight starts (4-0) and has allowed two runs in his last three outings. Lincecum lowered his ERA to 1.99 and has a 0.86 ERA in three June starts. The soon-to-be 24-year-old hurler continues to improve in his second pro season and has emerged as one of the elite Fantasy arms. His record sticks at 8-2, and he’s been able to overcome the Giants’ woeful offense by never allowing more than three earned runs in a start this season. He’ll face Detroit next week. (Rotoworld, CBS Sports)

Tim Lincecum fanned 10 on Thursday, but wasn’t involved in the decision after allowing three runs in six innings against the Astros. Blame Tyler Walker. Lincecum left with a 7-3 lead, but Walker allowed the Astros to come all of the way back in the eighth. It was the second 10-strikeout game of the year for Lincecum. He hasn’t allowed more than three earned runs in any of his starts.

“He had just a little blip (three-run fourth) on the radar there,” Lance Berkman said. “He’s got as good of stuff as I’ve ever seen.”Lincecum has allowed just eight earned runs over his last four starts, but has just one win to show for it. The Giants offense has struggled recently and the bullpen hasn’t been great to Lincecum. Two reasons why the wins have dried up in San Fran for the young righty. Lincecum could possibly be a nine-game winner if he was playing for a contender. Not the case. He is still an elite arm and must-start Fantasy SP. His next scheduled start is for Tuesday against the Rockies. His only loss came April 29 against the Rockies. Lincecum might be a two-start pitcher Fantasy Week 8 (May 19-25), if the team chooses to skip Patrick Misch’s second start. (Rotoworld, CBS Sports)

Tim Lincecum pitched eight innings of two-run ball as the Giants defeat the Phillies on Saturday. Lincecum allowed four hits, walked one and struck out eight to help the Giants snap their five-game losing streak. The runs scored on homers from Ryan Howard and Chris Coste. They were just the second and third homers surrendered by Lincecum this season. Lincecum struck out the side in order in the first on 11 pitches, all on called third strikes. He hit 97 mph on the radar gun. “I found my rhythm early throwing strikes and fed on that the rest of the game,” Lincecum said. Of his 105 pitches, he threw 74 for strikes. Lincecum is already flashing a kneebuckling curve, dynamite changeup and scorching fastball, and showing he is going to be a star in the league for years to come. He remains a must-start Fantasy SP. His next start is slated for May 15 against Houston. (Rotoworld, CBS Sports)

Tim Lincecum allowed four runs, all unearned, in six innings against the Phillies today. Lincecum struck out five, walked two, and gave up six hits while not factoring into the decision. Two of the four runs scored on Pat Burrell’s two-out double in the third, an inning that was started by an error from Emmanuel Burriss. Two more runs came around in the fifth inning in large part due to an error from Jose Castillo, though one run did score on a Lincecum wild pitch. Lincecum deserves to be assigned at least one or two of those runs, but his ERA remains a sparkling 1.49 due to the current pitcher-favorable system. (Rotoworld)

Tim Lincecum’s first loss of the year came via a debated balk call that pushed home the go-ahead run. Chris Iannetta, who replaced the injured Troy Tulowitzki in the first, scored on that seventh-inning balk by Lincecum that led the Colorado Rockies past the San Francisco Giants 3-2 on Tuesday. With Iannetta at third base with one out in the seventh inning, Giants catcher Bengie Molina appeared to ask for a timeout with Yorvit Torrealba at the plate. But plate umpire Gary Darling called a balk on Lincecum to score Iannetta for the go-ahead run.

Lincecum (4-1) also allowed Iannetta’s solo home run and an RBI double to Garrett Atkins, but was efficient and got many quick outs the rest of the way. He was tagged for season highs of eight hits and three earned runs, matched his season low with four strikeouts and walked one in seven innings. Lincecum, who also had his third hit in his first eight at-bats with a second-inning single, had allowed only four earned runs over his initial five starts.

Lincecum hadn’t given up a homer in eight starts since Ryan Braun of Milwaukee connected last Aug. 26. The good news is that Lincecum didn’t have a meltdown after the balk and should survive one close loss. His scoreless streak ended at 16 1/3 innings. Continue to start Lincecum in all Fantasy formats. His next scheduled start is for Sunday against the Phillies. (CBS Sports)