Giants aiming to find role for Lincecum in NLCS
Right-hander did not see action in Division Series victory over Nationals
SAN FRANCISCO -- In each of the Giants' last two championship runs, Tim Lincecum has played hero. As a starter in 2010, he won four playoff games and logged 37 lights-out innings. In 2012, he made six appearances, five in relief, and contributed in every inning except the ninth as San Francisco captured another World Series title.
During a team workout at AT&T Park on Wednesday, Giants manager Bruce Bochy confirmed that Lincecum will crack his 25-man roster for the National League Championship Series against the Cardinals. But in the NL Division Series, the right-hander was nowhere to be found -- save for the visiting bullpen in Washington, where he warmed up several times during the Giants' 18-inning victory in Game 2.
Some way, somehow, Bochy hopes to find a way to utilize Lincecum, who served as a reliever over the final month of the regular season.
"I need to talk to Timmy, I'll be honest," Bochy said. "He's been great. He hasn't complained. But I do need to meet with him. I know he didn't get in a game, and I'd like to give him a game.
"He's done a lot for us. I haven't forgotten that."
Lincecum, meanwhile, is doing all he can to stay physically and mentally prepared. He threw a bullpen session on the field on Wednesday, and in the clubhouse he explained how he is staying positive.
"It's not getting prepared for just one start, it's getting prepared for multiple days," Lincecum said. "I think there's something even more special about that, just because you get a chance to be in it every day. That's what us pitchers talk about all the time, is getting a chance to play every day. That's a way to kind of look at this in a positive and steer it that way."
When asked if he's frustrated, Lincecum didn't hesitate: "No. Not at all."
If recent history is any indication, the 30-year-old Lincecum -- who began his career with San Francisco in '07, making him this club's second-longest tenured player behind Matt Cain -- will get his shot.
"It's nice to be able to kind of be a guy that they can call on any given day," Lincecum said. "It kind of just brings me back to days in 2012 when I was doing that, and that was something special too. To get that chance again would be awesome."