Lincecum/Hamels Analyses

i think there is a ton to be excited about with the enchanter.  i think for us to over-analyze his first start is a mistake.  let's remember that he was amped up on the first inning, so of course his breaking ball is going to look like he is pitching in coors field.  his fastball had a lot of velocity on it at first, and yes he did get a lot of swing thrus the first time around.  but once a major leaguer has seen your fastball and he knows it is coming, they will hit anyones fastball.  here are my pluses for last night:

1.  he didn't get the loss.
   
2.  he battled through a lot last night.  he gave up two, two-run homers and that was about it.
   
3.  he got a lot of swing thrus, even the second time around.
   
4.  he got some major league experience without getting shelled.
   
5.  eventhough he had some control problems, which we all know having read his lines so far is going to be an issue (but he is what, like 12 years old) so we kind of expected that. but he wasn't grooving his fastball down the middle.  
   
6.  he should get 1 of 2 more starts before he goes back down to work on his control.  

the bottom line is he did great last night.  he gave up a two run bomb in the first, then struck out the side.  he didn't look rattled on the mound when some things weren't going his way.  

and the last good thing is, it doesn't look like he is going to get razor burn for a while.  the only shaving cream he is going to see for a while are the shaving cream pies he is going to get in the face during his tv interviews.

He seriously needs to get something done about the teeth.  That was painful to look at.  Don't they have things like Invisaline that he can take out during games to fix that?

Thanks, Seth.  Great stuff.

Clearly, Lincecum was over amped.  His control was never sharp, his fastball flattened out early, due to over throwing, and his curveball didn't have much break, for the same reason. He managed his game poorly, losing velocity as he went on.  Also, he ran into some bad luck with a tight strike zone.

We'll give him a mulligan.  If he corrects the flaws listed above, he could still dominate.

Meanwhile, I'm impressed that Hamels missed the 2004 season due to bar fight!  How old school!

We're all just guessing here, but, inasmuch as his curve wasn't working in the first, and he was getting squeezed by the umps, and it was his 1st MLB game, it wouldn't surprise me if Molina or Righetti or Bochy decided to use the curve only as a change of pace.  I think it is important to remember that Molina has had virtually no opportunity to catch him, talk to him, etc