JustSON the Numbers: Tim Lincecum vs. Brandon Morrow

You gotta love Bill Bavasi if you are a Mariners fan. I'm going to break down the careers so far of pitchers Brandon Morrow, who the Mariners selected with the 5th overall selection in the 2006 MLB draft, and Tim Lincecum, who the San Francisco Giants took with the 10th overall pick in the same draft.

It is believed that the deciding factor on why the Mariners decided on Morrow (grew up in California and played college ball for the California Golden Bears) over Lincecum (who attended high school in Renton, Washington and played for the Washington Huskies) was because of how small Lincecum is. Morrow is the size of your average pitcher at 6'3" and about 200 pounds while Lincecum is much smaller at 5'11" and 170 pounds, so it was assumed that Lincecum was more at risk for injury.

The injury theory has so far proven to be incorrect as Lincecum has never been on the disabled list in the major leagues and Morrow missed two weeks of spring training in 2008 and was then put on the disabled list on May 2, 2009 with bicep tendinitis. Also Morrow is a Type 1 diabetic, which even he acknowledged was a factor in his decision to move out of his role as a starting pitcher and move into the bullpen because it is easier for him to balance his blood sugar.

Both pitchers made their debuts in the 2007 season and have both had success. Lincecum has amassed 28 wins with 11 losses and a career 3.17 ERA in 65 total appearances (64 of them starts). He has also struck out 473 batters in a combined 417 2/3 innings. In 2008 Lincecum was selected to the All-Star Game but was unable to participate because of flu-like symptoms. He went on to win the 2008 National League Cy Young Award. Lincecum is one of only two Giants to win a Cy Young, the other was Mike McCormick in 1967.

Brandon Morrow holds a career record of 6 wins and 10 losses with 16 saves (5 blown saves) and a 3.90 ERA. He has appeared in 114 games (5 of them were as a starter) and has 150 strikeouts over 136 innings. In Morrow's first career major league start against the New York Yankees at Yankee Stadium on September 5, 2008 he pitched 7 2/3 innings of no hit baseball before eventually winning the game 3-1.

Now both pitchers are still only 24 years old so they have long careers ahead of them but from where I am sitting I would much rather have Tim Lincecum suiting up every 5th day for the Mariners. Not only because of his statistics, lack of injury history and the fact that he is a starting pitcher which at this time the Mariners are in sore need of. I'd also like to see him with Seattle because this is where he grew up and played college baseball, now what Mariner fan out there wouldn't be excited to root on a local product?

Who knows though, maybe Morrow turns into a dominant closer and goes on to many years of success for Seattle and maybe Lincecum turns into a 4th or 5th starter. Only time will tell, but so far it appears the Giants got a steal.

If anyone has any requests for this column let us know. I don't discriminate, no matter the sport or the stat.