Community Picks: LAA Angels 0% vs Oakland Athletics 0%

One start in, the Los Angeles Angels have to be very pleased with their decision to sign Tim Lincecum.  Making his first major-league start since June 27, 2015, the former two-time Cy Young award winner looked like a pitcher who's ready to contribute despite offseason hip surgery that seemingly threatened his future. In six innings of work, Lincecum allowed one earned run on four hits. He also walked two, hit one batter and struck out two.  Perhaps it wasn't the overpowering performance we became accustomed to with Lincecum during his magical days with the San Francisco Giants, but it was certainly a quality outing. Plenty good enough to earn Lincecum his first AL victory, as the Angels ran away with a 7-1 win against the A's .  It was also good enough to earn him a standing ovation from the Bay Area fans who are quite familiar with his work.  Tim Lincecum walks off to an ovation after 6 1-run innings. He seems done. It was an encouraging outing. He’ll face the A’s again Thursday. — Pedro Moura (@pedromoura) June 18, 2016 Lincecum's efficiency may need some work, as he required 98 pitches to work though his six innings. But overall there were definitely more encouraging signs than concerns. Mainly, the A's didn't make a lot of hard contact, even when they got into favorable counts.  [ Join a Yahoo Daily Fantasy Baseball contest now ] With his fastball velocity down around the high 80s and low 90s, Lincecum also showed a lot of confidence in his secondary pitches. That was especially true of his change up, which he used to keep A's batters off balance all afternoon long.   Tim Linecum: 38.8% of his pitches were changeups (most in a start since 2009). The A's were 1-11 in AB ending in a changeup from Lincecum. — ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) June 18, 2016 Of course, now that teams have seen Lincecum against a major-league opponent, they'll be able to adjust their scouting reports accordingly. That will be his biggest challenge, as teams start to zero in on his offspeed stuff and dare him to beat them with fastballs.  Facing the A's again in his next start could be both a detriment and a benefit in that regard. The detriment being that Oakland will be most familiar with this version of Lincecum, and the benefit being an opportunity to test his adjustments or use another gameplan completely.  That's to be worried about five days from now. For now. Lincecum should celebrate being back and having another opportunity to be "The Freak."  More MLB coverage from Yahoo Sports: - - - - - - - Mark Townsend is a writer for Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at bigleaguestew@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @Townie813 Continue to Article

June 18, 2016 7:36:pm EST

One start in, the Los Angeles Angels have to be very pleased with their decision to sign Tim Lincecum.  Making his first major-league start since June 27, 2015, the former two-time Cy Young award winner looked a like pitcher who's ready to contribute despite offseason hip surgery that seemingly threatened his future. In six innings of work, Lincecum allowed one earned run on four hits. He also walked two, hit one batter and struck out two.  Perhaps it wasn't the overpowering performance we became accustomed to with Lincecum during his magical days with the San Francisco Giants, but it was certainly a quality outing. Plenty good enough to earn Lincecum his first AL victory, as the Angels ran away with a 7-1 win against the A's .  It was also good enough to earn him a standing ovation from the Bay Area fans who are quite familiar with his work.  Tim Lincecum walks off to an ovation after 6 1-run innings. He seems done. It was an encouraging outing. He’ll face the A’s again Thursday. — Pedro Moura (@pedromoura) June 18, 2016 Lincecum's efficiency may need some work, as he required 98 pitches to work though his six innings. But overall there were definitely more encouraging signs than concerns. Mainly, the A's didn't make a lot of hard contact, even when they got into favorable counts.  [ Join a Yahoo Daily Fantasy Baseball contest now ] With his fastball velocity down around the high 80s and low 90s, Lincecum also showed a lot of confidence in his secondary pitches. That was especially true of his change up, which he used to keep A's batters off balance all afternoon long.   Tim Linecum: 38.8% of his pitches were changeups (most in a start since 2009). The A's were 1-11 in AB ending in a changeup from Lincecum. — ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) June 18, 2016 Of course, now that teams have seen Lincecum against a major-league opponent, they'll be able to adjust their scouting reports accordingly. That will be his biggest challenge, as teams start to zero in on his offspeed stuff and dare him to beat them with fastball.  Facing the A's again in his next start could be a both a detriment and a benefit in that regard. The detriment being that Oakland will be most familiar with this version of Lincecum, and the benefit being an opportunity to test his adjustments or use another gameplan completely.  That's to be worry about five days from now. For now. Lincecum should celebrate being back and have another opportunity to be "The Freak."  More MLB coverage from Yahoo Sports: - - - - - - - Mark Townsend is a writer for Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at bigleaguestew@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @Townie813 Continue to Article

June 18, 2016 7:36:pm EST

Tim Lincecum made a winning return to the majors, restarting his career after nearly a year away with six sharp innings and several ovations to lead the Los Angeles Angels over the Oakland Athletics 7-1 Saturday. Sporting a bright red hat and Angels jersey that was in stark contrast to the black and orange uniforms he wore for nine seasons as a star with the San Francisco Giants, Lincecum gave up one run and four hits. Lincecum didn't quite have the blazing fastball that he used to win back-to-back NL Cy Young Awards, but he was still strong in his debut with Los Angeles. Continue to Article

June 18, 2016 7:34:pm EST