Giants skipping Tim Lincecum in rotation

After Tim Lincecum's dreadful start on Saturday, Bruce Bochy said that he was having discussions with Dave Righetti about options for the struggling starter. Once the existence of those conversations are uttered in public, they rarely end with a decision of "just keep running him out there," and it's official: Lincecum is getting passed over in the rotation. From Henry Schulman:

Bochy and his staff have had some success getting pitchers on track by holding them back for one start, including once with Lincecum. Now, Bochy said, the pitcher needs to "clean up his delivery."

So it's not a permanent move. If the Giants like what they see in the side sessions, or out of the bullpen, they might move him back into the rotation.

Here's hoping that Lincecum's fastball gets a couple ticks back in the bullpen, though, which makes him more effective overall and makes it hard to move out of the bullpen. As we talked about today, the three-year plan to fix Tim Lincecum just isn't working.

The quotes by Bochy, though, suggest that Lincecum isn't going to relieve until he's ready, which explains the Kontos move. It was more about Lincecum, not Juan Gutierrez.

Best of luck in the bullpen, our diminutive and decorated once-hero.