…. Cy of relief?
Tim Lincecum threw an absolute gem today, beating the Dodgers 3-1, striking out 13, (including the first 9 outs of the game!). He finished with 18 wins, behind only Brandon Webb’s 22, just 4 wins back, which can be directly attributable to the support (or lack thereof) each pitcher’s bullpen provided, and gives Cy Young Award voters something to think about as they decide who was the best pitcher in the league this season.
I’ve stated my case repeatedly, it’s Lincecum all the way, but there’s certainly reason to argue for Webb, Santana or Sabathia.
Lincecum becomes the first Giants to lead the league in strikeouts, and finished with league-leading totals in almost all of the major categories.
We’ll see….
8 Responses to “…. Cy of relief?”
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I suspect Lincecum will be snubbed by the writers this year. It wouldn’t be the first time that has happened to a dominant Giants pitcher toiling away on a mediocre team (see: Jason Schmidt). If the Giants were in last place on the East Coast, it might be a different story.
That said, it’s exciting to see a homegrown superstar in San Francisco. Lincecum is a fierce competitor, and it now falls upon the shoulders of an inept front office to build a team around him and Cain, an enviable young 1-2 punch for any staff. I won’t hold my breath for that.
Food for thought: The Giants won one more game than they did last season, when Bonds was anchoring the lineup. In all, the team was a lot more fun to watch (on average), was full of youth and energy, and yet the attendance at the games this season has been abysmal. Shows you where the heart of your average ATT Park Corporate fan is.
Well… the point is both teams were horrible, just that Bonds was drawing the crowds for a horrible team. No shame in that at all. If we want this team to improve, lower attendance as a result of continued losing is a good way to send a message.
Well, wins should count for something. But the wins are equal if one considers the blown saves. Without the blown saves, both Webb and Lincecum are at 23. Lincecum crushes Webb in every other significant statistical category. Crushes.
But thats the statistical side. The side that can be expressed with decimal points, addition and subtraction, multiplication and division. But you have to look at Lincecum the way you have to look at Bonds. Lincecum, not Webb totally disrupts the opponents approach to the game. The kid had 33 starts (including that stupid fuck Bochy’s idiotic stunt during opening week in LA) In those 33 starts. He gave up 4 or more runs only 6 times. That is 20 percent of his starts. That meant that 80 percent of the time, the other team had between little and zero chance of winning. And winning is what it is all about.
The only hope an opposing team has against a Lincecum is to drive up his pitch counts and get him out of the game. A tactic that worked 5 times during the season vis a vis five blown saves.
Most guys around the game will tell you that over the course of a season, a starting pitcher’s starts will break down into 3 slices. A third of the time, a guy will have great stuff and he will be unbeatable. Guys don’t get to be starters in MLB without having really good stuff.. A third of the time he will have horseshit stuff, and will get battered. The other third of the time he will have ordinary stuff. And that is what differentiates the Greg Maddux’s of the world from the Barry Zito’s and Brett Tomkos. They manipulate their opponents into swinging at mediocre pitches outside of the hitters hot zone. Where at the end of the game opposing hitters are saying “The guy had shit, and I went 0 for fucking Four”
The difference is, Lincecum doesnt have mediocre or subpar days except maybe 4 or 5 times, not 10 or 12 like everybody else.
Bottom line is Lincecum intimidates and dominates consistently like nobody else, since Pedro in his prime, Ryan, Seaver, Gibson, Smoltz
I don’t know. I won’t disagree that Linecum deserves the CYA – I’d likely vote for him. But the arguments against Webb aren’t that great. If he gets the award, it be solely base on his Win total. He and Linecum pitched almost exactly the same number of innings. Your post indicates that the difference in wins is due to run support. I don’t see it. Linecum was at 4.92 / G, Webb at 5.0. That, over 200 innings, is just under 3 runs a year. That isn’t four wins. Additionally, although Webb certainly had fewer K’s (who didn’t?) he also had far fewer BB – and that resulted in the two of them having nearly identical WHIP numbers (Linecum 1.17, Webb 1.20) As far as Santana goes, another worthy choice – but giving it to him because he “stepped up with only three days rest …” is not really a valid reason.
On a side note, why is it that when MVP debates rage, the concept of winning while on a last place team is laughable (unless you’re named Dawson). Not so for the CYA. For discussion only.
While Lincecum was hands down the most dominant, I won’t be nearly as upset if he loses it to Santana than if Webb wins, especially the way Santana stepped up with only three days rest for a must-win game. Webb, on the other hand, had about 80 less K’s than Lincecum and allowed 3/4′s of a run per 9 innings more. That’s a pretty big difference.
Lincecum is 13 games over .500. He’s the reason we did not lose 100 games, which is what every rational Giants fan expected. Take Lincecum off our team and we are fighting with the Padres, Pirates, Nationals, Orioles and Mariners for the MLB laughingstock award. (He certainly deserves the CYA, Sunday’s effort was amazing.) It is tempting to trade Cain for a thumper. But think of it this way–do you really think Brian Sabean can get fair value for him? The other GM’s must be circling the waters waiting to bite, they KNOW Sabean will undersell and overbuy. Also, we have Lincecum. And Cain. And Zito. That’s our rotation. Sanchez–lots of upside–is still a work in progress. Our new young stars (Bumgarner, AA and Alderson, A) aren’t ready for the majors. The rest? Lowry? Hurt, possibly done. Correia? Hennessey? Marginal. We trade Cain, who is our #2? I think we tend to have an inflated sense of our rotation depth. Having an A+ #1 guy will do that to you.
Giants are not trading Sanchez, McCain, Lincecum or Wilson. (I think they should trade Wilson if they got a great offer, but I don’t think they will) Zito is not going anywhere because of his contract. Had Lewis not had bunyon surgury, Winn would be gone, so Winn is staying. There is no room on the team for a premier outfielder. There is room for a premier infielder. I think they will try to sign one. Unless Sabean (or management) changes their tune, this team won’t commit to more than that. Fortunately, the pitching is so good that this team could contend with one more bat.
It’s Lincecum or Santana, who pitched a brilliant game Saturday (three-hit SHO on three days’ rest when a loss could have doomed his team).
The win capped a 72-90 season (one win more than last year’s BB-led team), despite an offense that was often an embarrassment and a pitching staff that often couldn’t find the strike zone with radar. I thought the Giants would be lucky to win 60, so this wasn’t all bad.
Tasks for 2009 (assuming Sabean is kept, which I expect to be the case):
Find a bopper. A premier bat would be worth sacrificing Matt Cain. Has to be a top talent.
Let Sandoval and Schuerholz play. Ditto with Ishikawa. And if there’s nothing better out there for 3B, let McClain play (as they should have done this year, rather than wasting time and money on Castillo). If Sandoval can catch, use Bengie to break him in (say, 90 for Bengie, 70 for Sandoval, using him at the corners when he’s not behind the plate).
Trade Wilson while he has some perceived value. See if Romo can close.
Let Correia go (non-tender him). Ditto with Walker. Bullpens can be built relatively cheaply.
See if there’s a taker for Winn.
Probe Sabathia – but no more than five years.
Tell Zito the season starts in April, not June — so be ready to be the No. 4 or 5 starter.
There is free talent out there, if you’re willing to look. Start looking for hitters who don’t regard a walk as a crime against humanity (yes, Bengie, I’m talking about you!). Find pitchers, especially relievers, who will throw strikes instead of nibbling and walking the ballpark.
And lastly…
Dump Bochy. I’m not wild about Rags either, but he’s had success with some guys, even if the Giants can’t/won’t throw enough strikes. But Bochy is awful and has no business managing a rebuilding team.