Please Don’t Ruin Tim
by Mister Delaware on Thursday, September 25th, 2008 at 02:48pm
Tim Lincecum currently ranks 1st in Pitcher Abuse Points, 3rd in total pitches thrown and has the only category 5 start (133+ pitches) in the majors this season which came in an ultra-meaningless Sept. 13th game. No pitcher, not Sabathia nor Hamels nor anyone else in a playoff race, has gone above 132 this season. Only two other pitchers, the rubber-armed Livan Hernandez and the likely ruined Jason Schmidt, have hit 138 in the past five years. San Francisco did go on to win that game against San Diego and improve to just 14 games under .500. Totally. Worth it.
In a season where San Francisco is double digits out of first place in NL West, they’ve worked Lincecum and their only other potential bright spot, Matt Cain, as hard as any young tandem in baseball since … who didn’t see this coming … Prior and Wood. We all are too aware how that one has worked out. If Sabean, Bochy and possibly Righetti (I have no idea his level of influence) all believe this is justified to pursue a Cy Young award, one Lincecum’s overwork may end up costing him, San Francisco is screwed. Whether it’s due to a short sighted attempt to save jobs, a complete disregard for research or completely out of whack priorities, someone needs to step in as the voice of logic. Right now, the only hope looks like Magowan* jumping in and clearing house from Sabean down and soon. There are more high upside arms working their way up the ladder in the minor leagues, including minor league Pitcher of the Year Madison Bumgarner, but with the current regime in place, it won’t matter. Those who do make it will be shouldering an increased workload to make up for the other potential aces sitting on the DL.
(Believe me, I’ve heard the reasoning that his pitch counts don’t matter, his mechanics are such that he puts very little strain on his arm, etc, etc. Perhaps it’s true, but he’s the first of his kind and he’s only 24 years old. Do they really want to test out the Infatigable Lincecum hypothesis in meaningless games during his first full season?)
* (Correction: Neukom)