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Pitchers and catchers reported for a handful of teams today and there are still a bushel of free agent pitchers who have yet to sign for teams as the 2018 season is on the horizon. There’s going to be a free agent camp for the unsigned players, but there’s one unsigned player in particular who is taking a different route towards attracting the attention of potential suitors.
Tim Lincecum is attempting another comeback and he will be having a showcase at the Driveline Baseball facility in the Seattle area. The media won’t be at his showcase but every team has been invited. Of course that includes the Braves and according to Jon Heyman, they will be attending the showcase in order to get a look at what Lincecum may have to offer.
braves are among teams who will attend lincecum's showcase thursday in seattle. mets had interest months ago, but no word from them.
— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) February 12, 2018
Lincecum will surely be hoping for a similar result following his 2016 comeback attempt. Back then, he had a showcase shortly before Opening Day and managed to snag a contract with the Angels. With that being said, his stint with the Angels two years ago only lasted for nine appearances and 38.1 innings while posting a balooned ERA and FIP of 9.16 and 7.16, respectively.
“The Freak” was going into his age-32 season back then and now he’s two years older and even further removed from his golden days with the Giants when he was legitimately one of the game’s best pitchers. He does appear to be in great shape at the moment but there’s a difference between being in “the best shape of your life” and being a pitcher who can realistically contribute to a major league pitching staff.
Still, if he does manage to impress at this showcase then it wouldn’t hurt anybody to bring him in on a minor league deal and see what happens from there. Plus, the Braves aren’t really strangers to bringing in past-their-prime former superstars on minor league deals in order to see if they can pull back what they used to have in years past. I’d imagine that would be the case if anybody signs him and that will probably be the motivation behind the Braves at least going up to Washington state to take a look at Tim Lincecum.
So in that view, I wouldn’t be shocked if any team decided to take a flier on Lincecum in that regard, but I would be shocked if he managed to make it back to the bigs after spending a full season away from the game while past his prime. It still wouldn’t hurt to take a look and that’s the mentality that the Braves have here.