I’ve heard people say, “How can Tim Lincecum win the CY Young award?”

The biggest argument I’ve heard against Lincecum is that the San Francisco Giants are a bad team. Maybe that should help rather than hurt.

Consider this. In 1997, the Montreal Expos went 78-84. Pedro Martinez went 17-8 with 1.94 ERA

He won his first Cy Young Award. At that time, he had six years of major-league experience.

Lincecum, at this point, has less than two full years of service. He’s 13-3 on a team that is 19 games under .500 and he’s averaging 6.6 innings per start.

The Giants' fielders have committed 75 errors this season, and the bullpen has an ERA over four.

Lyceum’s 13-3 record could have been better.

The CY young is an individual award, often based on the performance of the players behind him.

Voters vote mostly based on numbers. He has those, but you don't realize how good Lincecum is until you see him, and you see just how bad the Giants are.

Most people don't get to see how bad the Giants are. He pitches out west on a bad team—two kisses of death to Lincecum's Cy Young dreams.

He should win; he deserves to. But if he does, it will be a small miracle.