Are Tim Lincecum or Michael Wacha Capable of Putting Their Stamp on NLCS?

Surprise, surprise: The St. Louis Cardinals and San Francisco Giants are back in the National League Championship Series.

But there’s been one decorated pitcher noticeably absent from each team’s winning formula this postseason.

The Giants used basically every pitcher on their postseason roster in the National League Division Series other than Tim Lincecum. The two-time Cy Young Award winner was a key component in the team’s World Series titles in 2010 and 2012, but his ongoing struggles as a starter resulted in a bullpen assignment for the postseason.

Meanwhile, the Cardinals have been reluctant to use 2013 NLCS MVP Michael Wacha this October, opting to omit him from their starting rotation in favor of 24-year-old Shelby Miller. Like Lincecum, Wacha was moved to the bullpen for the playoffs but didn’t take the mound in the NLDS.

The NLCS represents a fresh start for both pitchers, but don’t expect either right-hander to influence their team’s postseason success as they did in previous years.

Lincecum, 30, is one of the more accomplished postseason pitchers in today’s game, with a 5-2 record, 2.47 ERA, 0.878 WHIP and 63-14 strikeout-to-walk ratio in 54.2 career innings.

"The Freak" served as the Giants’ ace in the 2010 playoffs and guided them to a World Series victory almost single-handedly by going 4-1 with a 2.43 ERA and 43 strikeouts in 37 innings over five starts spanning three series.

However, Lincecum’s role was much different during the Giants’ return to the postseason in 2012.

Coming off the worst regular season of his career (5.18 ERA in 33 starts), Giants manager Bruce Bochy decided to send Lincecum to the bullpen for the playoffs. The move ultimately paid huge dividends for the would-be World Series champions, as he pitched to a stellar 2.55 ERA and 0.79 WHIP over 17.2 innings (six appearances, one start).

Flash forward two years, and Lincecum is back in Giants’ playoff bullpen after yet another disappointing campaign, one in which he was relegated to a relief role for the final month of the regular season.

Lincecum’s absence in the NLDS suggests that Bochy doesn’t have the same confidence in his former ace that he did in 2012, let alone 2010. Nonetheless, the Giants skipper will be looking for opportunities to get "Big Time Timmy Jim" on the mound in the upcoming NLCS against St. Louis.

Per Aaron Leibowitz of MLB.com, Bochy said:

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I need to talk to Timmy, I'll be honest. 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.

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Lincecum, meanwhile, has seemingly remained in good spirits through it all, which is all the Giants could ask for.

Yet, it goes without saying that Lincecum would rather be contributing to his team’s postseason success than enjoying it from the bench.

"It's nice to be able to kind of be a guy that they can call on any given day," Lincecum said, via Leibowitz. "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."

Based on Lincecum’s career numbers against the Cardinals, he should get that chance in the NLCS:

GS	Record	IP	ERA	WHIP	K/9	BB/9	OPS
8	6-1	54.2	2.47	1.098	9.2	2.3	.622

Lincecum faced the Cardinals just once during the regular season, but it was one of his better starts of the year. In the July 1 outing against the NL Central champions, he scattered four hits over eight scoreless innings, walking two and striking out six while throwing 73 of 113 pitches for strikes.

Though the stage seemingly has been set for Lincecum’s return to his glory this October, it’s probably best to temper expectations. Keep in mind the next time he takes the mound will mark his first appearance since Sept. 28, so don’t be surprised if Lincecum is rusty when he finally gets into a game.

Speaking of the rust, the Cardinals haven't decided whether they will keep Michael Wacha on the postseason roster despite his nonexistence in the NLDS.

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Wacha became a household name last October by capturing NLCS MVP honors as a 22-year-old rookie and going 4-1 with a 2.64 ERA in five postseason starts. Though his success didn’t translate to a World Series title, it certainly didn’t detract from the youngster’s overall success and incredibly bright future.

But we won’t see that same player this time around, that is if we see him at all.

In explaining the decision to put Wacha in the bullpen for the NLDS, Cardinals skipper Mike Matheny noted, via Rick Hummel the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, that the right-hander is still a work in progress after missing 10 weeks with a right shoulder injury during the regular season.

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It's been a challenge for him, with the injury that he had and the time that it took. It's already a difficult situation continuing to improve at this level and he has. Taking that much time makes it rough but he's made great adjustments. Right now, we've got to go with the guys we believe are going to give us our best shot.

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However, B/R MLB Lead Writer Zachary D. Rymer argues that the Cardinals shouldn’t rule out giving Wacha, provided he's healthy, a start in the upcoming NLCS, especially with Adam Wainwright experiencing arm trouble.

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To the extent that Wacha didn't pitch more than five innings in any of his four post-absence starts, this is true. But Brooks Baseball can vouch that his velocity returned right away. And after throwing only seven of his signature changeups in his first two starts back, he threw 37 in his next two. Also, his final start saw him throw more pitches than he had since the middle of May.

Maybe the Cardinals wouldn't get the guy who carved his way through the 2013 postseason if they had to use Wacha in a pinch in Game 4, but asking him for five good innings before turning the game over to a solid bullpen wouldn't be unreasonable. 

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Though Rymer makes a fair point, it might be best to chalk up the organization’s decision not to use Wacha to a lesson learned from Chris Carpenter’s 2012 season.

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From Ben Humphrey of Viva El Birdos:

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While Wacha's track record is not as long as the seasoned Carpenter, he is nonetheless a weapon gilded in the fires of postseasons past and an enticing option for any manager, field or general. But it appears that Mozeliak and Matheny approached the Wacha decision clear-eyed, objectively assessing where the young righthander's stuff was and concluding it wasn't sharp enough to be trusted with postseason starts. The Cardinals aren't going to bet on Wacha regaining his form during the playoffs the same way they did with Carpenter two years ago. And that's a good thing.

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Humphrey’s assertion carries the most weight of all the theories and speculation behind Wacha’s role this October, especially given the Cardinals’ perpetually forward-looking approach to player development and breeding success at the highest level.

Including him on the roster for both the Division and League Championship Series may be more wishful thinking than anything. After all, it’s better to at least have the option of using Wacha in the postseason (should he be deemed fit for action) rather than hastily write off his year.

But at 23, Wacha still has a full career ahead of him. For the Cardinals, that career shouldn’t be worth risking for a few relief appearances.