How Good is Tim Lincecum?

Using precise location and a baffling change-up, Tim Lincecum continues to school NL hitters early in his second full season. It doesn't seem to matter whether he's using the 95 mph heater to set up the 85 mph change, or cutting batters off at the knees with his curve--in most cases hitters look like they may as well leave their bats in the dugout. When hitters do make contact, as in the eighth inning of last night's 9-4 defeat of the Dodgers, they manage feeble Texas-leaguers and are forced to play for one base at a time.

Although he had trouble in his first two starts--a no-decision on opening day and a loss in his next start--he seems to have recovered from the bronchitis that trimmed a little velocity off his pitches and affected his stamina.

Lincecum, 2-1 with a 3.16 ERA, looks to be ready to repeat his Cy Young performance and make it two straight. Barring injury, nothing seems to be standing in his way except lingering doubts about run support.

However, with Bengie Molina (.329 with 4 homers and18 RBI) leading the way, the Giants have lately shown the ability to put together enough rallies to keep themselves in games.

Pablo Sandoval (.307, 6 RBI) and Travis Ishikawa (.224, 8 RBI), two rookies who got off to stone-cold starts, started to make some noise in the Dodger series, which the Giants won, two games to one, and solid hitting from Edgar Renteria (.275 with 19 hits and 13 runs scored) and Aaron Rowand (.283, 9 RBI) contributed to the damage.

While the Giants spent most of the game toying with the Dodger bullpen after starter Eric Stults' early departure, Lincecum was the model of control and consistency through seven innings. His 8 strikeouts contributed to an impressive total of 43 after five starts, enough to place him second to Mets ace Johann Santana, who leads the NL with 44 whiffs.

Over the past ten days, Lincecum leads all NL pitchers with a 2.40 ERA and 20 strikeouts.

Especially impressive has been his control--only four walks over 15 innings, with no homers and 4 earned runs.

What makes this performance especially satisfying for Giants' fans is that the youngster, who seems unfazed by his early success, is actually living up to both the hype and the expectation. I was at AT&T Park for one of his first Major League starts in late 2007, and watched his strike out 12 Arizona Diamondbacks on the way to a victory. This start came in the midst of a disappointing campaign, during which fans were literally begging management to put the kid into the lineup and see what he could do.

We've seen how good he is, now, we get to see how good he can be over the long term. All indications are that Giants' fans are going to enjoy the experience.