Felt the need to acknowledge that the Giants are tied for first place (though alone in first in terms of winning percentage; they have played two less games than St. Louis) with their great win last night. Literally, Tim Lincecum, the Kid, did it all: he pitched a complete game shutout (5 PQS, natch) plus drove in the first run, the only run he ultimately needed.
And all that just goes to show what I've been writing about over the past couple of years. A pitcher can dominate any particular game and when you have a pitcher like Lincecum who can do that pretty regularly, around three quarters of the time, he's special. If you can build a rotation that is dominant up and down - not all Lincecums, obviously, but strongly dominant pitchers like Matt Cain has been or Jonathan Sanchez has done in spurts - then a pitching rotation can dominate a series, from game 1 to the last game.
In addition, a pitcher who can handle the bat can help himself out during a season. As my analysis showed, a pitcher who can hit like a replacement level hitter can theoretically add at least a couple of wins above .500 to their record, each year. And if a team can emphasize that - much like when Livan was challenging his fellow starters to hitting contests when he was with us - then they can add a few more wins to their seasonal totals without doing anything else to their roster. It can literally be the difference between a 81-81 .500 team and a 86 to 91 win team contending for the pennant and the playoffs.
Step One completed: Win Game 1. Go Giants! Beat the 's!
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