Manager Bruce Bochy has announced that the Giants will skip struggling right-hander Tim Lincecum's next turn in the rotation on Thursday.
Bochy announced the plan prior to the Giants' game against the Colorado Rockies on Monday and said that the decision did not come easy.
"He's all for this," Bochy explained after talking about the situation with Lincecum. "He knows it's probably a good time for this to back him off a little bit and help clear his head too."
Bochy also detailed exactly what Lincecum needs to do in order to get back into the rotation.
"Clean up the delivery a little bit, he was out of sorts there. I know he's been working on it hard. Sometimes when you tinker a little bit too much with it, but just want to clean it up and get him back to where he was not too long ago. He's definitely a little out of balance on his delivery."
Lincecum, a two-time Cy Young Award winner, provided hope that he had regained some semblance of command when he threw his second career no-hitter back on June 25. But over his last six starts, Lincecum is 1-3 with a 9.49 ERA and five home runs allowed over 24.2 innings.
Bochy also announced that Yusmeiro Petit will take Lincecum's spot in the rotation for Thursday against the Rockies.
"For this time, Petit will take this start and meanwhile Timmy can help us out in the bullpen, once we think he's ready to help us out there."
