I don't believe they said Tim Lincecum had the second-fastest average fastball.  They said he threw the second-most pitches over 95 mph.  On a pro-rated basis, had he pitched the whole season for the Giants, he would have thrown the MOST pitches over 95 mph in the NL -- although not in the major leagues.

Tim and Matt each had top-notch fastballs. Tim's averaged 95+; Matt's, 94+. Tim's had slightly more "hop," (a surprise to me), while Matt's had more movement in and out.  Tim got more called strikes; Matt, more swinging strikes.  Tim had more balls in play; Matt, more foul balls.  Neither gave up a lot of hits, although Tim yielded more power with his heater.

Tim's curve blows Matt's away.  Tim's change up is harder to hit, but Matt has great control of the pitch and should use it more often IMO.  

Matt's control improved a great deal in the last two months of the season.  What he needs to do to continue his improvement is to improve his curve and slider -- as well as using his very good change up more often.

With Tim it is all about control.  When his first pitch last season was a strike, he had Maddux-like walk rates.  When it was a ball, he resembled a young Sandy Koufax.

At this point, Matt's and Tim's fastballs appear to be so close together in effectiveness that I can't really separate them.  Tim enjoys a huge curve ball advantage, and his curve is far better than Matt's slider.  Tim also has the better change up (a devastating one when he throws it for a strike), but it is Matt who has excellent control of the pitch.

IMO Tim would benefit from throwing more curves and change ups.  Matt would benefit from throwing more change ups and from improving his curve ball and slider.

Also, while Tim's change up became his most effective pitch by season's end, he slumped a little with that snapping curve ball.  My guess is that his curve, considered his best pitch when he came out of college, will bounce back sharply.

Despite just picking up his change up (actually an abbreviated split) last winter, Tim now has three plus-plus pitches.  At best, Matt has two -- and therefore must rely more heavily on his fastball until he improves his curve and slider and uses his fine change up more frequently.

If both pitchers continue to improve, the Giants could soon have the league's best one-two starting punch.  Given that their offense is punchless, that would help a lot.

Had Tim reached 162 innings pitched, he would have been ahead of Matt in many of the categories for which Matt was cited in this post.