Tim Lincecum
The Freak's career arc remains one of baseball's most fascinating cautionary tales about velocity and mechanics. Lincecum's 261 strikeouts in 2009 came with a 2.48 ERA that was 74% better than league average — a peak few pitchers ever reach. His signature four-seam fastball and devastating changeup made him nearly unhittable when he was on.
But Lincecum's reliance on max-effort mechanics caught up with him quickly. After posting back-to-back Cy Young seasons, his ERA jumped from 2.62 in 2011 to 5.18 in 2012, and he never truly recovered. The man who struck out 1,736 batters in just 1,682 innings became a cautionary reminder that even the most electric arms can flame out fast.
His 110-89 record tells only part of the story — those early Giants years showcased one of the most dominant stretches by any pitcher in the 2000s, even if it lasted just five seasons.
Career · Hitting
10 seasons| Year | Team | G | AB | HR | RBI | AVG | OPS | OPS+ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2007 | SF | 24 | 43 | 0 | 0 | .093 | .250 | 33 |
| 2008 | SF | 34 | 70 | 0 | 5 | .157 | .413 | 55 |
| 2009 | SF | 33 | 66 | 0 | 3 | .152 | .386 | 51 |
| 2010 | SF | 33 | 67 | 0 | 5 | .104 | .247 | 34 |
| 2011 | SF | 33 | 61 | 0 | 1 | .082 | .207 | 29 |
| 2012 | SF | 33 | 45 | 0 | 3 | .089 | .285 | 39 |
| 2013 | SF | 32 | 57 | 0 | 1 | .105 | .290 | 41 |
| 2014 | SF | 34 | 44 | 0 | 1 | .068 | .214 | 31 |
| 2015 | SF | 16 | 21 | 0 | 0 | .143 | .408 | 57 |
| 2016 | LAA | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | — |
| Career | 281 | 474 | 0 | 19 | .112 | — | — | |
Career · Pitching
10 seasons| Year | Team | G | IP | W | L | ERA | ERA+ | SO | WHIP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2007 | SF | 24 | 146.3 | 7 | 5 | 4.00 | 112 | 150 | 1.278 |
| 2008 | SF | 34 | 227.0 | 18 | 5 | 2.62 | 165 | 265 | 1.172 |
| 2009 | SF | 32 | 225.3 | 15 | 7 | 2.48 | 174 | 261 | 1.047 |
| 2010 | SF | 33 | 212.3 | 16 | 10 | 3.43 | 119 | 231 | 1.272 |
| 2011 | SF | 33 | 217.0 | 13 | 14 | 2.74 | 144 | 220 | 1.207 |
| 2012 | SF | 33 | 186.0 | 10 | 15 | 5.18 | 77 | 190 | 1.468 |
| 2013 | SF | 32 | 197.7 | 10 | 14 | 4.37 | 88 | 193 | 1.315 |
| 2014 | SF | 33 | 155.7 | 12 | 9 | 4.74 | 79 | 134 | 1.394 |
| 2015 | SF | 15 | 76.3 | 7 | 4 | 4.13 | 96 | 60 | 1.480 |
| 2016 | LAA | 9 | 38.3 | 2 | 6 | 9.16 | 46 | 32 | 2.374 |
| Career | 278 | 1681.9 | 110 | 89 | — | — | 1736 | — | |
Matchups, projections, comps — grounded in Lahman, Retrosheet, and Statcast.