But, as the great Gary Rabinovich always says; Nobody cares. I was listening to KNBR the other morning, and I heard Murph and Mac rambling about how if Tim Lincecum was playing for the Yankees, nobody would even pay attention to Joba Chamberlain. Lincecum has local fans drooling and baseball/stats geeks watching every pitch he throws, but outside of this market, nobody is giving him any respect. The reason why he is not being mentioned in the Cy Young race is beyond me. He doesn’t have the ridiculous win total of Brandon Webb, but he’s a much better pitcher overall. Take a look at these numbers:

• ERA – 2.43 (Leads NL and tied for Major League Lead with Cliff Lee)
• Strikeouts – 210 (Leads the Majors)
• Batting Average Against (BAA) – .221 (3rd in NL and 4th in the Majors)
• Wins – 15 (3rd in NL and tied for 6th in Majors)

The kid is insane. He throws heat, he can place his pitches and is just getting better. I have to believe Lincecum is the real deal. Another reason he should be considered for the Cy Young (and I know this is not a consideration for the voters) is that he has 15 Wins on a team that is so offensively anemic that back-to-back base hits are actually a cause for celebration. The fans of course recoil when both of the base-runners are stranded, but for that rare, brief moment, Giants fans truly believe that their team has found their bats. All I can say is, Lincecum is making it happen in 2008 and it’s about time everyone took notice.