Tim Lincecum
Harwich 2005
Pitcher
Washington
Well you definitely know who he is.
No Cape League alum in recent years has become as big a star as Lincecum, who has won two Cy Young Awards in three Major League seasons. And I’m not sure any Cape League alum has ever become a star so quickly.
Could we have seen it coming? I don’t think anyone foresaw this much success, this soon.
But Lincecum had one heck of a summer in 2005. It flew under the radar a bit, and scouts still weren’t sure about him.
In retrospect, though — whether you let his later success color the perception or not — it was pretty amazing.
Lincecum came to Harwich in ’05 after striking out 131 batters in 104 innings at Washington. He was one of the nation’s best pitchers, but he was somewhat of an enigma because of his stature and his small frame. He didn’t look like a power pitcher. As a draft-eligible sophomore, Lincecum had lasted until the 42nd round in June of ’05.
In his first Cape League appearance, he came out of the bullpen and struck out all but one of the batters he faced in two innings. A few days later, he made his first start and struck out 11 in eight innings.
It looked like he was on his way to a special summer, but after making two more starts, an injury forced him to the bullpen.
It did not stop him from having that special summer. In fact, it may have enhanced it. Lincecum ended up making a total of 19 appearances. He saved seven games and finished with an ERA of 0.69, best in the league.
And that, amazingly, wasn’t the only leaderboard Lincecum found himself on. Despite logging about half the number of innings as his counterparts, Lincecum had 68 strikeouts, good for fourth in a stacked league. He reached that number in 39.1 innings. That’s a K/9 of 15.7. If he had stayed as a starter — even with the strikeout rate invariably going down — he might have gotten to 90, a number no one’s come close to in a long time.
As far as dominance goes, few Cape League pitchers have ever been better.
“He just makes guys look silly,” Harwich manager Steve Englert told Baseball America that year. “I’ve never seen kids of this caliber look this bad like they do against that breaking ball.”
Englert knew what he was talking about it; I’m not sure the rest of us quite understood. I wasn’t blogging in 2005, but I followed the league. Like many others, I was more intrigued by Miller, Longoria, Norton and Bard, the stars of a pretty special year. That’s why Lincecum isn’t No. 1 on this list. I considered him — the numbers are good enough — but that summer, the buzz wasn’t quite there yet. Baseball America ranked Lincecum as the Cape’s 18th best prospect, couching the praise for him with this: “But because he’s just 6 feet tall and has an over-the-top delivery, scouts wonder if he’ll hold up and project him as more of a reliever.”
Yeah, about that.
After the Cape
Lincecum got drafted 10th overall in 2006. He made 13 minor league starts, allowed seven runs and struck out 104. He started 2007 in Triple A then made it to San Fran, where he was pretty awesome from the start. He won the Cy Young in 2008 and again in 2009.
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Great series. It must have taken a lot of work. I am guessing it was a labor of love. I have enjoyed learning the history of the players and the past decade.
Thank you.
You’re welcome! I’m glad you’ve enjoyed it.
One story regarding Lincecum will always stick out for me…
We were at the 2005 all star game in Hyannis and had gotten there early enough to have great seats in the second row of the bleachers on the first base side. This was the first game we had attended that particular year so we weren’t too familiar with the talent, beyond the numbers anyway.
Coincidentally, seated next to us were the parents of Andrew Miller. We talked to them for a while and they were genuinely very good people. About an hour before the game was to start, Andrew came over to talk to his parents before the game was to start. Andrew Miller, a top prospect out of high school and the consensus top prospect in the cape that summer (not to mention the presumable number one cape leaguer of the decade) was absolutely gushing to his parents about this kid from Washington. “You have to see his breaking ball. I’ve never seen anything like it”. Manny Burriss overheard and echoed the exact same sentiments.
Plenty of hype from his peers but Lincecum didn’t disappoint, showing off his amazing stuff in a one-two-three inning that went by all too quickly. It was apparent he was a truly special player and it has been amazing to watch him progress through every level, dominating all the way.