The Freak is back: Tim Lincecum makes Angels debut

The Freak is back – but in an unfamiliar uniform. Tim Lincecum takes the mound for the Los Angeles Angels on Saturday against the Oakland Athletics.

Having trouble picturing Lincecum in anything but a San Francisco Giants jersey? Well, seeing is believing, and you can see his Angels debut right here on Yahoo Sports as it’s our MLB Free Game of the Day. Stream it for free on Yahoo’s Sports Home, MLB index and video home. First pitch is at 4:05 p.m. ET. Local blackouts apply, per MLB’s rules.

After an extended offseason recovering from hip surgery and reworking his appoach as a pitcher, Lincecum signed a one-year deal with the Angels on May 20. The Angels’ already thin rotation had just lost Garret Richards to injury and the organization was willing to give Lincecum the opportunity to be a starter.

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Now, we see what Lincecum has left. He made three starts for Triple-A Salt Lake and his numbers give reason to be encouraged. His ERA was 2.65 over 17 innings and he struck out 19. Lincecum’s last outing with Salt Lake was particularly impressive: seven innings of one-run ball with eight strikeouts.

The dirty little secret, though, is that Lincecum has had an ERA over four since 2012 and anything better than that would be a huge accomplishment. Beloved in San Francisco for his back-to-back Cy Young awards and presence on three World Series championship teams, Lincecum hopes to resdiscover his previous form, or at least earn himself another contract in the offseason.  

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Israel Fehr is a writer for Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter. Follow @israelfehr