Major League Baseball

Lincecum deserves to be an All-Star

Published Jul. 6, 2010 1:00 a.m. ET

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Jaime Garcia. Mat Latos. Clayton Richard. Wade LeBlanc. Livan Hernandez.

Young National League starters, all. (Except for Livan.) And they have something in common.

A better ERA than Tim Lincecum.

If you saw this coming, I wait with great anticipation for your solution to the Greek debt crisis.

Lincecum, in fact, has the highest ERA — 3.28 — of any NL All-Star pitcher. Yes, Stephen Strasburg should be on the team, but please don’t suggest that Lincecum is the undeserving pitcher who took The Kid’s spot.

Let’s not forget what Lincecum accomplished over the previous two seasons: a 33-12 record and 2.55 ERA. Entering this year, he was regarded by many as the best pitcher in baseball -- a label that doesn’t wash away like fake tattoos in the pool. Sure, first-half performance is one criteria for picking the All-Star team. But it isn’t the only one.

Lincecum belongs, even though he hasn’t been himself this year, and even though he’s not so sure he deserves to go, either.

“I really don’t know how to say this, but it’s hard to accept things when you’re going through mental struggles,” he told the San Francisco Chronicle upon learning the news. “It’s hard to take compliments. When you don’t think you deserve something — I’m not saying I don’t deserve this — it’s not as gratifying.”

Six months ago, “Lincecum” was a boldface entry in the West Coast slang dictionary: “dominant, esp. in a funky manner.” Baseball types were trying to divine whether an undersized righty with fewer than three years of major league service was justified in asking the Giants for a $13 million wage through salary arbitration.

In the end, he signed a two-year, $23 million deal. On a per annum basis, it was less than he wanted. Perhaps we should have taken it as a sign that, for a change, not everything would go Lincecum’s way in 2010.

In 2008, his first full season, he won the NL Cy Young Award.

In 2009, his second full season, he won the NL Cy Young Award.

Now, Lincecum needs a good outing Wednesday in Milwaukee if he wants to keep his ERA among the top 20 in the NL. At this point, a Phil Jackson-style Cy Young three-peat is unlikely. It would have been unfair to expect such a thing, anyway.

And concern about his performance? Of course, there has been that.

Barely more than one week ago, armchair doctors/pitching coaches wondered if something had gone wrong with Lincecum’s arm. He lasted just three innings in a loss to the Red Sox. His four-seam fastball averaged around 90 miles per hour, according to the PitchFX data at BrooksBaseball.net.

For someone who routinely reached 94 mph and above during his first Cy Young season, the numbers were alarming. Still, the Giants said he was fine. Lincecum did, too.

“Things like that do get blown out of proportion,” the 26-year-old opined, a couple days later. “You answer back with something in the doing. I guess my next start would have to be better.”

It was. The four-seamer averaged closer to 93 mph in Colorado on Friday, according to PitchFX. The business of recording outs went more smoothly for Lincecum, too, even though the Giants lost.

Now comes the second half, and the true test of whether the Lincecum of ’10 can be as dominant as the Lincecum of ’08 and ’09. This is the juncture of “kinda disappointing first half” and “trend.” We’re about to find out if the critics were right when they predicted the (allegedly) 5-foot-11 Lincecum would wear down ... or if this is merely the latest test of his major-league adaptability.

Manager Bruce Bochy believes Lincecum can excel at his present velocity. Teammate Barry Zito does, too.

“It’s about differentials,” said Zito, the left-hander whose own heater went away and came back. “It’s the changeup, curveball and slider compared to the fastball. It’s all about that. It’s about spotting your pitches.

“Location is No. 1. Getting your offspeed over is No. 2. Velocity is No. 3.”

The great ones tinker a little and win a lot. The opposite is true for everyone else. Lincecum’s track record tells us where he belongs in that discussion.

Leading up to the All-Star Game, we will hear plenty about Colorado’s Ubaldo Jimenez and Florida’s Josh Johnson. That is fair. They have been the best pitchers in the National League this year.

But let’s not forget the long view. Lincecum’s ERA since Opening Day 2008 is better than both of theirs. He’s younger, too, if only by five months.

Next Tuesday night, Tim Lincecum will be the only active pitcher — on either base line — who can tell you what it’s like to win two Cy Youngs. That matters. That’s why he needs to be there. That’s why he will probably have a big second half. And that’s why his All-Star case won’t usually be this tough to make.

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