Blister continues to hinder Tim Lincecum's return to Rangers

Tim Lincecum is still waiting for a blister on his right middle finger to heal before he resumes throwing a baseball.

Lincecum, who last threw a bullpen session Wednesday in Oakland, skipped Sunday's scheduled bullpen to give the skin another day to callous.

"I feel physically in shape so we’re just not trying to compound the issue with the finger and set myself back further," Lineceum said. Lincecum has dealt with blisters in the past. The difference, he said, is that as a starter, you have time between starts to allow the skin to heal, if necessary. "It's a little different beast to attack."

He's been throwing with a Plyo ball (which is a weighted, rubber ball without seams) while waiting for the blister to heal.

"So I can still get my throwing in, to a degree," he said.

Manager Jeff Banister said he's waiting for Lincecum to clear up the blister before determining his availability.

The blister has been an issue since March 22.

"This one was a little bit different, I don’t know why. Maybe it was the abbreviated spring. I didn’t get a chance to create a blister and turn into a callous. I had to get rid of that top layer and it exposed a lot of fresh skin. Just waiting for that layer to callous up again so I can use it."

This story was originally published April 8, 2018 at 5:06 PM with the headline "Blister continues to hinder Tim Lincecum's return to Rangers."