Lincecum Struggles With 'Target' on Back

SAN FRANCISCO -- For the first time in his young career, Tim Lincecum took the mound as a Cy Young winner.

Which is a blessing. And a curse.

"Obviously, you have a target on your back," the Giants right-hander acknowledged, using the phrase repeatedly in dissecting his disappointing Opening Day performance.

In his 2009 debut, Lincecum had none of the stuff that earned him that hardware in 2008. He lasted only three innings, allowing three runs. The only consolation for him was that the Giants' surprisingly potent offense bailed him out in a 10-6 victory over the Brewers on Tuesday at AT&T Park.

Afterward, Lincecum was able to smile and talk about how he'll put it out of his mind.

Really, though, there will be no running from what happened.

Catcher Bengie Molina knows that this is going to be a theme for Lincecum this year. That "target" is only going to grow until Lincecum starts buzzing through lineups again.

"That happens to everybody -- just ask Cliff Lee," Molina said, referring to the reigning AL Cy Young's abysmal performance on Monday.

"They are going to go hunt him. Why? Because it's a challenge. He's the Cy Young winner and they want to prove something. They want to beat him. I told him in spring training, 'They are going to go after you.' We have to make adjustments ourselves and try to beat them back. It's going to be a battle out there."

Lincecum's first battle of 2009 went against him, almost from the moment that "Cy Young" tag was hung on him during the pregame introductions.

Despite good command of his fastball in the bullpen, when the game began Lincecum was unable to find the strike zone. The velocity was there -- 95s and 96s on the ballpark radar gun -- but plate umpire Dana DeMuth was not raising his right hand.

Lincecum's face told the story, as he was quickly frustrated.

"You could tell he was fighting himself," manager Bruce Bochy said.

Without a dependable fastball, Lincecum dug into his toolbox to look for something else. He started throwing curveballs and changeups, one after another. It was a sight rarely seen during 2008, when the fastball was enough.

A couple of strikeouts on those off-speed pitches helped him escape the first without a run scoring. In the second, though, he resorted to a changeup against pitcher Jeff Suppan -- surely an indication of something amiss. Suppan was able to get just enough barrel on the ball to pull it down the left-field line for a run-scoring single, putting Milwaukee on the board.

The Brewers got another run on Rickie Weeks' two-out double and a third run in the next inning on an infield hit.

After 78 pitches over three grueling innings, Lincecum's season debut was over.

Bochy could have left him out another inning, but he opted to take the conservative route with the Franchise, as Lincecum is accurately called.

"We were protecting our assets," Bochy said, although he could have omitted that last syllable and been just as accurate.


The question now is whether there is anything fundamentally wrong with Lincecum, or if this was just "one of those games." The answer to that won't be known for weeks. In the meantime, the company line is to stay positive. He's healthy. Three innings of bad pitching don't wipe out all that is right about Lincecum.

"I'm trying not to think too much now," Lincecum said. "There are a lot of things I did wrong today. I didn't make a lot of good pitches. I'm trying to put it behind me and think about my next start."

That will be on Sunday, in San Diego.

The Padres will be waiting for him.