I get it. Friday was tax day. The NBA and NHL playoffs just started. The NFL Draft is still four days away. It's WAY too early to start this conversation. Guess what? I don't care.
So here it goes: The two-headed Mississippi Monster Chris Carpenter and Adam Wainwright is 4-0 (Wainwright pitches tonight), Ubaldo Jimenez is 3-0 and threw a no-hitter last night against a pretty good Braves team. Livan Hernandez hasn't given up a run in either of his two starts and Brad Penny, Carlos Silva and Jaime Garcia have ERA's under one after two starts.
But the NL Cy Young race should boil down to two fantastic starters that have not yet been mentioned.
Tim Lincecum is 3-0. He's pitched 20 innings, given up two runs on 13 hits, and struck out 24 batters while issuing just three walks. His ERA is 0.90 and the lead-off man has reached base just once in those 20 innings of work. Most importantly he's coming off back-to-back Cy Young awards becoming the youngest player to win two and first to do it in his two initial full seasons at the big league level.
The new challenger is Roy Halladay. He's 3-0. He's pitched 24 innings in his three starts, giving up four runs (three earned) on 21 hits, and struck out 21 batters while walking only two. His ERA is just 1.13 and unlike the rest of the challengers (Carpenter and Wainwright to a lesser extent, excluded) has done this before.
Halladay is 151-76 in his career with a 3.40 ERA. Until being traded to Philadelphia this offseason the big 6'6" 230 pound righty had pitched his entire career in the hitter-laden AL East. "Doc" is durable and strong and already has a Cy Young award to his resume from 2003.
His other advantage over the incumbent Lincecum is the offense that plays behind him. The Phillies have scored a league-high 78 runs already this season and led the NL in 2009 as well. The Giants offense has improved (scoring 68 runs) and that should help Timmy increase his win total from a meager 15 a year ago but there is no doubt Halladay can have a few bad starts and win with the line-up his team puts out on the field.
To add to the excitement the Phillies have been to the World Series each of the last two seasons - winning it in 2009 - and the Giants lead a very strong NL West early on. As Philadelphia and San Francisco battle for playoff spots it could be the pitcher that puts his team over the top that gets the hardwood in the end.
I'll keep an eye on how this one is progressing. For updates follow me on twitter - @philomis
