Article:Lincecum for Cy Young?

With the way he's been throwing the ball lately, it is becoming more and more clear that Tim Lincecum deserves the NL Cy Young Award as much, or more, than anyone else. He did get roughed up in Colorado in his most recent outing, but I don't think it's going to hurt his chance as long as he just finishes out the year with quality starts. Right now, Lincecum's numbers for the season are significantly better than the next tear of Cy Young hopefuls. His era is the lowest among all NL starters at 2.60 and he leads the league in strikeouts by a large margin. He also sports the lowest BAA amongst Cy hopefuls which I always look at as a biggest indication to a pitchers dominance. Brandon Webb, the guy who's been everyone's favorite for the award since his ridiculous start to the season, has seen his era go from 2.74 to 3.19 over his last two starts, and even though he leads the league with 19 wins, his other numbers pale in comparison to Lincecum's. C.C. Sabathia has been the best pitcher in the NL since he was traded to Milwaukee in July, but he hasn't been in the league long enough to get consideration. Now, there is still a solid month of baseball left to play, which means everybody still has 3-4 starts before the voting will be made, but at this point, seeing what Lincecum has done while pitching for one of the worst teams in the league, I think he's the leader.

The Giants have made a lot of their call-ups for September, and they have wasted no time throwing them into the mix. Nate Schierholtz was called up Tuesday and started both Tuesday and Wednesday's games. After his first two games back up in the bigs: 5-8 with 2 doubles and 4 runs scored. Giants fans have been yearning for the guy all season long and he's showed why in his first few games. Pablo Sandoval and Travis Ishikawa also continue to look solid as they have been playing pretty much everyday over the last few weeks. Ishikawa has shown his ability to drive in runs as he has 10 RBI in only 48 at-bats while hitting .271. Sandoval is really starting to become noticed around the league with the way he's played since dawning a big league uniform for the first time. After Wednesday's game, Sandoval is hitting .353 with 2 home runs 6 RBI's and 11 runs scored in 68 at-bats. No, it's not big sample for either player, but from what we've seen so far, both have given us reason to be optimistic. Sandoval is especially intriguing because of his age (21) and his ability to play 3 positions at a major league level. With him and Buster Posey now in the mix, the Giants look to have themselves a bright future behind the plate. Also, although I wouldn't necessarily bet on it, Sandoval's arrival may allow the Giants to shop Bengie Molina this winter in attempt to shore up their weaknesses in the infield.

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