SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. -- Tim Lincecum threw an extended bullpen session and said he feels good about his progress ahead of Saturday's exhibition opener. He'll start the game against Arizona and is likely to pitch just one inning.
He's about to make short work of social media, too.
Lincecum's brand new Twitter account (@TimLincecum) went live Thursday afternoon. His first message was to Clint Dempsey and U.S. Soccer:
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Tim Lincecum @clint_dempsey @ussoccer just want to say congrats to you and the team on a great job and making the US proud, so pumped for you guys
Mar 01 via UberSocial for iPhoneFavoriteRetweetReply
Yes, it really was Lincecum. He called his agent, Rick Thurman, after the U.S. upset Italy Wednesday -- their first victory over the soccer-mad nation in 78 years.
"That's what inspired him to Tweet," said Paul Kuo, director of public relations for the Beverly Hills Sports Council. "He asked us to help him set up an account and he told us he wants to do it. He doesn't want us to handle it.
"It's real, it's him and it's going to be him."
San Francisco Giants
Other than a few commercial endorsements, Lincecum hasn't sought attention ever since establishing himself as a superstar with his consecutive Cy Young Awards in 2008-09. He values his privacy away from the ballpark and disappears in the offseason. So the foray into Twitter is surprising, indeed.
"As you know, he's a big soccer fan," Kuo said. "He wanted to send the message right away, and the folks at Twitter were a great help in expediting that all-important, much requested verification."
Yep. Timmy got his blue checkmark. He also received a brief response -- "Thanks!" -- from U.S. Soccer.
After Lincecum's agency sent out a welcome message via its own Twitter account, Major League Baseball and other major media outlets spread the message with their own Tweets. The result: Lincecum generated over 9,000 followers in the first hour of the account's existence. He's got a ways to go before he catches closer Brian Wilson (@BrianWilson38), who has more than 475,000 followers even though he's become an infrequent Tweeter.
Kuo said he wasn't sure what Lincecum had planned for his Twitter account, but he hoped fans would enjoy hearing directly from the Giants' four-time All-Star.
"We all know social media is becoming more prevalent," Kuo said. "He already had a Facebook page with news and updates, but Twitter seems to be much more personal."
Other Giants on Twitter include Jeremy Affeldt (@JeremyAffeldt), Brandon Crawford (@BCraw35), Sergio Romo (@SergioRomo54), Pablo Sandoval (@KFP48), Brett Pill (@BrettPill6), Melky Cabrera (@MCabrera53) and Eric Surkamp (@ESurkamp). Buster Posey (@BusterPosey) joined Twitter over the winter, but most of his messages thus far appear to be written by his agency.
When Lincecum wasn't typing 140 characters on Thursday, he threw an extended bullpen session that included a sit-down break to simulate throwing multiple innings. He said he felt no difference after the rest, although his fastball is still riding up in the zone.
"My two-seamers were up," said Lincecum, who threw several other sinkers that appeared to have plenty of cut and lateral movement. "I've been getting on top of it a little more. ... This one had more of a game feel to it. It felt good."