Pre-Closing Time: Tim Lincecum no-hits San Diego, again

No disrespect intended to Tim Lincecum, who of course pitched wonderfully in Wednesday's no-hit effort against the Padres. We'll get to him and his replacement-level mustache in a minute.

But right here at the top, we need to discuss this San Diego lineup...

Just look at that trash fire — those names, those averages. It's maybe not a fluke that Lincecum has no-hit the Padres two times over the past 12 months. San Diego entered the day slashing .216/.275/.340 as a team, ranked dead-last in baseball in all three categories. Naturally, the Pads are also last in runs scored, by a mile.

No, I'm not breaking any news here by reporting that San Diego is, in fact, a hitting-challenged group. You knew it. They knew it. Everyone knows it. It's a well known thing. As a public service to the fantasy community, let's review the Padres' upcoming pitching matchups, looking for streaming opportunities:

6/27 vs. Ari – Josh Collmenter

6/28 vs. Ari – Brandon McCarthy

6/29 vs. Ari – Mike Bolsinger

6/30 vs. Cin – Mat Latos

7/1 vs. Cin – Mike Leake

7/2 vs. Cin – Johnny Cueto

7/4 vs. SF – Matt Cain

7/5 vs. SF – Tim Hudson

7/6 vs. SF – TIM LINCECUM YET AGAIN!

Yup, Timmy will see San Diego again in a couple weeks, gunning for career no-hitter No. 3. I'm gonna go ahead and recommend him as a decent fantasy play that day. And you're welcome.

As for Wednesday's gem, Lincecum offered this, when asked to compare his most recent no-no to his first...

Lincecum on six Ks instead of 13 last time: "It wasn't a stuff day. It's where I was able to put it." #sfgiants

— Henry Schulman (@hankschulman) June 25, 2014

He located the fastball beautifully and all four pitches were humming. Full highlights here . It's tough to find fault with his work. (The stache, yes. The pitching, no.) He issued just one walk, needing 113 pitches to finish the Padres. All things considered, it was a terrific show -- an outing you can reasonably take to the trade market.

Nothing happened on Wednesday to signal that Lincecum is now a fundamentally different pitcher than the guy he's been over the last two seasons, obviously. Lincecum's velocity in a multi-year decline, as most of you know, and the command is not perfect at all times (3.81 BB/9). There's a reason he's only owned in 56 percent of Yahoo leagues. But the Ks have continued to pile up at a respectable rate. He still has uses, fantasy-wise. Let's hope you used him properly against the Pads.

from Yahoo Sports http://ift.tt/TkvVLS