2009 Pitchers of the Year: Zack Greinke & Tim Lincecum

greinke_fThe Sporting News has named their 2009 Pitcher of the Year award winners, as selected by a panel of 31 major league general managers and assistant GMs.  This years winners are Zack Greinke of the Kansas City Royals and the San Francisco Giants Tim Lincecum.

Greinke was the AL ERA leader with a sparkling 2.16 ERA, a 16-8 record, he struckout 242 & walked only 51 batters (nearly 200 more strikeouts than bases on balls), surrendering only 11 longballs, on just 195 hits in 229′ innings.  In this era of the relief pitcher, Zack completed six of his 33 starts, including three shutouts.  He joins Bret Saberhagen as the only other Royals hurler to win the award, Bret won it in 1985 & 1989.

Tim Lincecum won the Pitcher of the Year award for the 2nd straight year, finishing with a 15-7 record, 261 strikeouts, only 68 walks (again, nearly 200 more strikeouts than bases on balls).  Tim only allowed 168 hits, including only 10 longballs, in 225′ innings.  Lincecum posted 2 shutouts, completing four of 32 starts.  The Freak joins these other Giants who have won the award, 1944 Bill Voiselle, 1959 Sam Jones, 1967 Mike McCormick, 1973 Ron Bryant, 1978 Vida Blue, and 2004 Jason Schmidt.