The San Francisco Giants top prospect gets a surprise nod tonight. Madison Bumgarner – who has chewed through Single A and Double A competition for the past two seasons – is going to be on the mound.

The excitement of finally getting a chance to see the prospect the Giants prize above all others is severely tempered by concern over the player the Bay Area prizes above all others. Tim Lincecum was scratched with a back problem, making way for Bumgarner. That raises the specter of concern that followed Lincecum into the draft – that the incredible torque he puts on his small frame is a recipe for injury.

Lincecum, in two seasons, has become the superstar of the Bay Area. He has been elevated to top shelf – not the referential status reserved in the past for Joe Montana and Barry Bonds, because he hasn’t achieved that much yet – but just a notch below. I think the word “beloved” isn’t too strong.

Granted, part of that fast lane to wild popularity is because there’s a huge void in star power in the Bay Area. But it is also because Lincecum is an electrifying presence on the mound and a charismatic personality off – a genuine young phenom who does cartwheels in the clubhouse and looks like the second coming of Joey Ramone.

There’s already sports-talk speculation that this move is just a ploy to let Bumgarner pitch against the lowly Padres and adjust the rotation so that Lincecum gets both the Dodgers and the Rockies at home. No way. There’s no chance the Giants would fool around with Lincecum – his psyche, his starts, his reputation – in the midst of a September race. He’s too valuable to the team. He is, after all, nicknamed “the Franchise.”

If I’d known Bumgarner was going to be on the mound tonight and that the Bay Bridge would be open relieving traffic issues I would have gone to the ballpark tonight. But Rafa and Monfils are in a great match. So it’s remote flipping for me tonight.

Tags: Giants, Madison Bumgarner, Tim Lincecum

This entry was posted on Tuesday, September 8th, 2009 at 8:32 pm and is filed under Bay Area Sports. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.