Milwaukee Brewers: Tim Lincecum showcase, interest real

The Milwaukee Brewers will attend the showcase of Tim Lincecum on Thursday, February 15 in Seattle.

Reviewing the Brew reported that the Milwaukee Brewers would likely do its due diligence on Lincecum if he attempted a comeback. Now it is official that they will.

The Brewers have a weaker starting rotation than their division rival Chicago Cubs heading into the 2018 season. Milwaukee, however, might not be looking at the 2-time Cy Young Award-winner Lincecum as a potential add to the starting rotation.

Milwaukee Brewers will watch the radar gun during the Tim Lincecum showcase

Lincecum won two Cy Young awards early in his career. However, his slight build and quirky mechanics likely led to the decrease in his velocity and effectiveness.

After a similar showcase during the 2016 season, the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim gave Lincecum $2.5M and nine starts.

The former San Francisco Giants ace complied an awful 9.16 ERA. He will have to show what he improved from that time to get any team’s attention in 2018.

Jeff Passan tweeted word that Lincecum has added muscle and velocity.

Lincecum’s fastball velocity measured a career low 88 mph during his 2016 comeback. It would be hard for the former flame-thrower to prove he can maintain a high velocity over multiple innings and games as a starter in a showcase.

Perhaps, however, Lincecum can show the ability to crank up his fastball in bursts.

This might be alluring to the Milwaukee Brewers who have shown a strategy to build their staff with cheap veterans looking to prove something.

Milwaukee Brewers could use Tim Lincecum showcase to decide if he can help their bullpen

The Milwaukee Brewers have some red flags in their bullpen. If Tim Lincecum shows in the small sample-size of his showcase that his stuff is back, the Brewers might make an offer. They signed Yovani Gallardo for similar reasons.

Also, if Lincecum can only keep his stuff up for an inning or two at a time, that could still help out a bullpen that needs to be a strong shoulder for the team if it is to get better from 2017 into 2018.

Imagine the two-headed monster of Josh Hader and a fully functional Tim Lincecum getting the ball to Corey Knebel in 2018.

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Furthermore, if Knebel’s penchant for walking hitters catches up with him, perhaps Lincecum would be the band-aid for that.