Sunday October 14th, 2012

Kyle Holland:  No pitcher has come out of college before and jumped right onto the Major League scene as much as Tim Lincecum did  by fancying a 56-29 Won-Loss record in his first 4 seasons as a pro. Drafted tenth overall in the first round of the 2006 Amateur Draft, Lincecum came to the Giants pitching staff with great expectations. At the time, his $2.025 signing bonus was the highest amount the Giants had ever given a player.  In just his second season in 2008, he won the NL Cy Young, and followed up with another the next year in 2009.

After these 2 amazing Cy Young seasons in ’08 and ’09, Lincecum led the Giants to their first World Series in San Francisco in 2010.  At only 5’11’’, 163 Ibs, he can routinely get his fastball up to 93 MPH.

With this being his 6th year pitching in 2012, all is not well. For a guy that has usually thrown well enough to be the staff’s ace, Lincecum didn’t even make the NLDS roster as a starter because the Giants decided to use him out of the pen instead.  His 10-15 record for the regular season left a lot to be desired, and the club opted to use Barry Zito after Cain, Baumgarner and Vogelsong.  So how did this happen to such a prolific pitcher? Read the rest of this entry →