Watched most of the Giants - Rockies game and it pitted Cy Young award winner Lincecum against the league's best pitcher this season, Ubaldo Jiminez. It was really the first time the Fan had watched the guy pitch and he is amazing. Even the couple of times he got in trouble, the ultimate result never seemed to be in doubt. He pitched a complete game shutout to lower is ERA to 0.78.
The game was watched on MLB.TV (via the computer) and featured the regular Giants' television announcers. Remember, these guys have watched Lincecum for a few years now and the announcers said over and over, "This guy has the best stuff in the league by far." That was their constant theme throughout. What does that tell you about how good this guy is?
What is amazing is that he has this 96 to 99 MPH fastball that he throws for the entire game. But it isn't just a fast pitch like Farnsworth, who used to throw that hard but it was always perfectly straight. Ubaldo throws his and it darts from left to right, not a few inches but a foot or more. It's and incredible fastball. He also throws a split at 90 MPH and a curve that just buckles the batter. And he throws them all for strikes.
The only improvement he could make is when he gets two quick strikes on a guy. He tends to get a little cute and tries to make a perfect pitch. This just adds up his pitch count and it's unnecessary because the batter can't hit whatever the throws up there and he should just blow them away. But that's hardly a bad thing if it's his only problem.
The scary part is that he's just 26. He isn't flamboyant. He's not demonstrative. He pitches like he's been there forever. This is his third year in the big leagues and each year, his splits have improved. He's just learning still and at 10-1, he could even be better than this.
Watching him pitch was a wonderful treat on Memorial Day and this Fan just might have to watch him every time he pitches the rest of the year.
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