Examiner.com MLB Awards: National League Cy Young - Tim Lincecum

November 8, 1:52 PMMLB ExaminerAlex Brown

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San Francisco Giants starting pitcher Tim Lincecum is the
choice as National League Cy Young Award winner among
baseball writers for Examiner.com.
(Photo: http://www.flickr.com/photos/bryce_edwards/CC BY 2.0)

Since it's creation in 1956, seven major league pitchers have won back-to-back Cy Young Awards.  If the Examiner.com poll is any indication, Tim Lincecum of the San Francisco Giants will become the eighth pitcher to achieve such an honor. 

The voting was close, but 2008 Cy Young Award winner Lincecum defeated St. Louis hurlers Chris Carpenter and Adam Wainwright in the Examiner.com vote.  While those two pitchers had fantastic seasons for a very good team, Lincecum was dominant for an average team and managed to keep the Giants in contention for the National League Wild Card for much of the 2009 season.  He led the National League in complete games (4), shutouts (2), and strikeouts (261).  His first half (10-2) was outstanding, and his season looks even better when you figure in the fact that he just completed his second straight season of logging over 220 innings pitched.  Clearly, the Giants have themselves a durable ace for whom fatigue seems not to be a big factor.

Tim Lincecum was the victim of an anemic offense in San Francisco for much of 2009, but it might have worked in his favor in this voting.  While Carpenter and Wainwright each won more games than Lincecum, they pitched with more offensive support.  Lincecum often took the mound without knowing how much (if any) support he would receive, or how many innings he'd have to work in order to get the win.  Then again, when you hold opposing batters to a .206 batting average, who needs any offense?

Voting Panel
Robert Quinn (Tampa Bay Rays)
Theo Fightmaster (San Francisco Giants)
Greg Filice (Toronto Blue Jays)
Brian Pietrzak (Minnesota Twins)
John Stankevitz (Chicago White Sox)
Rand Huguely (Texas Rangers)
Josh Hood (Kansas City Royals)
Sam McPherson (Oakland A's)
Travis Lay (Colorado Rockies)
Randall Castro (Detroit Tigers) 
Claire Reclosado (SF Baseball)