Please, Dear Lord, not again.

Calling Tim Lincecum?

“Matt Cain was scratched from a throwing session Thursday after having a cyst removed from his right arm. The right-hander is expected to resume throwing in 10 days.”

At least that’s how the Giants web site told the story. Don’t blame Giants fans if they experienced a strong sense of déjà vu along with a particularly intense level of dread. We mean the Karl Urban kind of Dredd, not that comic book Sylvester Stallone garbage.

 

We feel "Dredd"

The Giants saw injuries responsible for a title-defending squad becoming largely impotent in 2015. The failure settled around pitching, namely starters, and a big part of that was the absence of Cain.

Once the team’s unquestioned workhorse, the 31-year-old has broken down more than a ’72 Chevy Vega over the past few seasons. From 2007 through 2012, Cain eclipsed the 200-innings-pitched mark in each campaign. He hasn’t tickled triple digits since. His key attribute, durability, is no longer a given.

In 2014, bone chips restricted the movement in his throwing arm and summer elbow surgery ended his year.  Last season a flexor strain killed off his April, and nerve irritation in that cranky throwing elbow had put him on the shelf by the end of August. In between he appeared in 13 games (starting 11). The numbers: two wins and four losses and a 5.79 ERA over 60 2/3 innings.

Cain: Oh, that cranky arm

The Giants are downplaying the event. As Manager Bruce Bochy told MLB.com’s William Boor: "You hate for him to go through what he just went through, but it's pretty minor, I think. We have plenty of time. I don't see this being a major setback at all. Without knowing, my guess is we still have time to have him ready (for the start of the season)."

So the Giants aren't ruling out Cain for April, but that's a "guess". The procedure was  minor, but this is a tired refrain. There were similar happy-happy-joy-joy protestations a year ago, and we saw how that worked out.

Yeah, we know. Basically it's a skin condition. You could tell Deadpool the same thing.

Apparently the team’s Plan B is Chris Heston. Fans warmed up to him when he was pressed into service by the Cain and Jake Peavy injuries, and he went 12-11 with a 3.95 ERA (including a no-hitter) in what was his rookie season. But much of his success was early. We thought him a one-trick pony whose coat had significantly-less shine once hitters figured out that his sinker didn’t always sink and everything else was hittable.

Heston was 9-5 before the All-Star break and 3-6 thereafter as his ERA ballooned from 3.39 to 4.91. More telling, his WH/IP jumped from a pedestrian 1.2 to an abysmal 1.5 as the enemy learned to lay off his one good pitch. The tail-off was at least partially blamed on the "rookie wall" but an extended rest didn't seem to help.He was 1-2 in September and got shelled in his lone October outing. 

There’s certainly a dark corner of the Giants offices where the name Tim Lincecum is being uttered in a hushed, almost secretive tone. That’s also a natural reaction for a fan base that considers him a cult hero and has little in the existing rotation to cling to beyond Madison Bumgarner and hope.

 

Lincecum: Can he still smoke, and where??

The problem is, Lincecum is just as fraught with peril. His much ballyhooed showcase, intended to confirm his health has been pushed from January to February to early March to whenever he’s ready. His recent travails are well-chronicled, and the last thing the Giants need is another pitcher getting paid to sit on the DL.

Timmy father, Chris, told CSN Bay Area Giants Insider Alex Pavlovic that the two-time Cy Young Award winner is close to ready, but also confirmed he’s thrown just five bullpens in the last two weeks. His key accomplishment seems to be throwing a baseball the length of a football field, and the velocity is supposedly improving although no radar gun has been brought in for verification.

Lincecum has spent the offseason in Arizona, rehabbing from hip surgery. He supposedly has offers, but is waiting for the right deal and is in no hurry to make a decision. Said the elder Lincecum, “He’s going to go where he wants, where he’s needed.” If the stars align, “where” could end up being San Francisco. 

If Cain, or any starter for that matter, can't answer the bell, there aren't a lot of options left.