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Originally Posted by veist
Tangent here but what do you think about Lincecum's loss of velocity?
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Lincecum was a physical freak of nature that was able to overcome shockingly inefficient mechanics for 5+ seasons. When you're blessed with a thunderbolt of a right arm, you can get away with it.
But as he's thrown more innings, his arm strength just isn't what it once was. And frankly, those mechanics are still inefficient as hell. He holds his arm too low as he begins his acceleration (so he fights uphill with his arm), he turns his shoulders too much to get a full drive forward and creates a ton of drag.
For all the talk about how his dad created his 'injury free' mechanics - they're horrid for the purpose of maximizing the energy he can create with his legs and transfer to his arm. And now that his arm isn't good enough to make up for the fact that he's a pure arm thrower, he's throwing slop.
I think Lincecum is done as an elite pitcher. If he eventually decides "to hell with it, I'll throw it out for as long as I can", he may be able to get another good season or two before coming undone. It will require that he alters his mechanics to increase his efficiency (and undo some of his deception) and it will require that he just pitch through pain, but it could happen.
It's either that or he just has to become a much much smarter pitcher. Felix Hernandez has lost just as much velocity as Lincecum but he's learned to set up hitters and rely on location/movement to generate outs. Lincecum's still trying to pitch like he can throw 97 and frankly that's just not going to work for him anymore. He needs to figure out how to generate more movement on his heat, get on top of it and start getting outs like the #3 starter that his stuff suggests he may be these days.