Lincecum why called freak

There was so much effort and torque in his delivery that it seemed impossible that any pitcher, much less one shorter than 6-feet tall, could perform that motion in excess of 90 or times in one game.

Those odd mechanics make it even more amazing that Lincecum was able to experience the profound levels of success he did as a major league pitcher. To have that kind of athletic ability, those mechanics and the sheer strength he has — with his stature — is just unheard of. After winning the Golden Spikes Award for the best amateur player in the country while he was in college, he shot through the minors and almost immediately became one of the most dominant pitchers in baseball.

He made his big league debut in in May and proceeded to make four straight All-Star games from to He was the National League strikeout leader for three straight years from to and won back-to-back Cy Young Awards in and Later on, Lincecum threw a pair of no-hitters, one in and another in Along the way, Lincecum also helped the Giants to three World Series titles. The other is legendary lefty Sandy Koufax. His numbers began to diminish and injuries ultimately took him off the mound, despite a valiant comeback effort with the Angels in In the end, the critics may have been right to some extent.

But from to , it was hard to find a better pitcher in baseball, and in those years, Lincecum earned his nickname of The Freak, and in the best possible way. Sandy Koufax. He was excellent in three World Series with a sparkling record, 2. Cons for Lincecum and the HOF. If the baseball Hall of Fame is reserved for those freakish performers, how can they keep out The Freak? There are still writers who swear by the ancient pitcher benchmark of wins. In fact, his year career barely meets the minimum requirement for length necessary to qualify him for the ballot.

One of the metrics Baseball Reference uses to determine Hall of Fame cases is Black and Grey ink; how often a pitcher finishes first black and top grey in pitching categories. The average Hall of Fame pitcher has scores of 41 in black ink and in grey ink.

Lincecum rose to the top of most pitching categories but fell quickly after his first five seasons, managing only 21 in black ink and an 84 in grey in the back half of his career. Obviously, both of those marks are below average, however, his black ink number is better than 27 Hall of Famer pitchers, and his grey ink number is better than seven. The problem with those numbers, however, are that he does score higher in black ink than pitchers like Jack Morris 20 , Bert Blyleven 16 , and Mike Mussina 15 to name a few, but the rest are relievers.

He also never posted a positive WAR after The average Hall of Famer scores and 50, respectively. Lincecum scores a 66 and 17, which are far below those marks.

All three of these cases provide different aspects that are damning for a Lincecum HOF bid. McLain and Lincecum had two very similar careers. Conversely, McLain had off-field issues that contributed to him not getting into Cooperstown, such as an embezzling conviction, a prison stint, and connections with organized crime. Santana had a longer career with more success, but he was not the same pitcher in the playoffs and never won a World Series.

His career WAR Oddly enough about Saberhagen, one could point to his lack of All-Star appearances. The question is: How many more would he need?

Maybe another four. There is an argument to be made that Lincecum is the best Giants pitcher since Juan Marichal. After all, he owns more Cy Youngs than the rest of the organization combined. There is another part of this. Having met him multiple times, this mark is off at least three inches. In order for Lincecum to reach the elite level he was for five years, his father had to develop an unorthodox delivery that maximized every inch of his potential — and he succeeded.

He was good enough in the sense that when he was pitching his best, he was Hall-of-Fame caliber — his diminutive frame simply could not take the stress to operate at that level for long enough. In fact, he has more hardware than a number of inductees. If he is ever to get in, he will have to get in by the veterans committee — probably after they let in Saberhagen. For now, he will be a great addition to the Giants organization hall of fame. All Seattle Mariners fans have learned the future is all we have because the present is always too painful.

Lincecum was born and bred in Washington state and had a great final college year pitching for the University of Washington and posting a 1. He was drafted by the Cubs in and Indians in but didn't sigh with either. Instead, he finished college and was signed 10th overall in the draft by the San Francisco Giants. LIncecum had a meteoric rise to the Majors and went from A ball to the MLB roster in less than 12 months, throwing only 62 innings during his entire minor league career.

He was a month shy of his 23rd birthday when he made his major league debut in May Back to back Cy Young awards are an incredibly elite group of pitchers and Lincecum joined this select few after his and seasons. The Freak throws 4 pretty standard pitches, though he does throw a 2-seam fastball in addition to the 4-seam. When he first hit the bigs, he didn't even have a slider - a pitch he started throwing in his second year. His fastball was blazing in his early days, topping out at 99MPH.

In recent years, LIncecum's velocity decline has been notable. In he was hitting and in he was down again to He's lost about 1MPH since which is not a steep decline, but an early decline for someone who is only 31 years old.

During his pitching showcase last month in Arizona , he was topping out at 92MPH but consistently hitting Lincecum's strikeout rate has had a huge drop since it peaks around I wouldn't be surprised if much of the drop was due hip problems as well as the drop which had him at 7.

Lincecum could be nicknamed The Freak for his athletic ability, or many other facets. He fits the stereotype of a Washington State pothead and was even busted for possession in He wears birckenstocks and loose pants, plays video games and has long hair often in a ponytail.