MVN: Most Valuable Network

Words don't do Tim Lincecum justice. Watch the video (warning: there's sound):



I'm no pitching mechanics expert. Really, I throw like a girl. But I've watched enough baseball in my time to know genius when I see it. Lincecum's delivery, designed by a team of Swiss supercomputers, has been the subject of a lot of debate. 9 teams decided to pass on him in the 2006 draft, due to their disbelief that a 5'11", 165 guy could throw so hard for so long without having to receive a prosthetic elbow. The Rockies pick up their 6'7" righty Greg Reynolds, and Tigers their 6'6" lefty Andrew Miller, but the Giants went for the midget.

How does he do it? I really don't know. The experts tell me that he creates torque using the lower half of his body better than anyone in recent baseball history, and that Lincecum uses leverage and physics in ways that less-practiced pitchers aren't able to. He does so in a way that does not put his throwing arm at much risk, and best uses his slight, lithe body. But really, just watch the video and be amazed.

Tim Linecum is basically the same pitcher, mechanically, that he was in college. A lot of teams try to put their own mark on a pitcher's delivery when they enter their organization. The San Francisco Giants had the wisdom to leave him alone. They didn't have to teach Linecum a thing to prepare him for the majors. He made his way to the highest level after about two months of minor league seasoning - the quickest rise for any recently successful starter that I can remember.

All that's well and good. My language is quantitative. Lets look at the numbers.

Lincecum pitched 227 innings in 2008, only his second full season since being drafted by the Giants. His ERA was a sparkling 2.62, only to be out shined by his league-leading 265 strikeouts (10.5 per 9 innings, best in the league by over 1 K/9)  and 84 walks (3.3 per 9). He led the National League in ERA+ at 167 (edging Johan Santana by 1 point), and did it all at the age of 24.

The best has yet to come. I don't know what the Vegas odds are that Lincecum becomes the first pitcher to top 300 strikeouts since Randy Johnson and Curt Schilling did it together in 2002, but I'd place my bets with Lincecum. His meteoric rise from college baseball to the toughest game in the world has taken place on an almost unprecedented curve of excellence. The best pitchers in the game all have something unique to them - Randy Johnson had his height, Roger Clemens had his power, Greg Maddux had his control, and Pedro Martinez had his guile. Tim Linecum has his delivery. He has only taken his first step on a long journey fraught with pitfalls, but its hard not to be confident

Tim Lincecum is the undisputed best young pitcher in the game, and narrowly beat Johan Santana this season for the honor as best picher in the National League. It is my honor to present MVN's award for best pitcher in the National League to Tim Lincecum.