Almost since the day he made his debut in 2007, Tim Lincecum has been the unquestioned king of Cape Cod Baseball League alumni. His career took off immediately. He was 25 when he won his second Cy Young Award. He’s a four-time all-star and a two-time World Series Champion.
And he might be abdicating his throne.
Lincecum struggled last year (although his move to the bullpen in the playoffs helped the Giants win the World Series), and he hasn’t quite put it all back together yet this season.
But that’s only part of the story. Chris Sale and Matt Harvey – two players who were on Cape League fields four years after Lincecum and who are rising just as quickly as he did – are handling the other half.
Sale starred for the Yarmouth-Dennis Red Sox in 2009, earning top prospect honors from Baseball America. For him, the Cape League was everything – he was on the radar before. After, he was a star. It launched him. He was drafted 13th overall the next June by the White Sox, with the expectation that he would move swiftly through the system, and did he ever. Sale played in all of 11 minor league games before he made his Major League debut in August of 2010, just two months after the draft.
In the beginning, he was a dominant reliever. Then last year, he became an ace, going 17-8 with a 3.05 ERA and striking out a batter an inning. He’s poised to cement his status as one of the game’s best young pitchers this season.
Harvey joined Sale on the Cape in 2009 after also playing in 2008. He spent both summers with Chatham, but the Cape was different for him than it was for sale. Harvey was already highly-touted, a third round pick out of high school. In 2008, on the heels of a heavy workload at North Carolina, he pitched out of the bullpen and was named the league’s third best prospect by Baseball America. The next year, he struggled with the Tar Heels and didn’t fare much better in a cameo on the Cape, posting a 6.00 ERA in 18 innings.
But the talent was in there somewhere, and the next spring, Harvey unearthed it. In the 2010 draft, he was selected seventh overall by the Mets. One more college pitcher – Deck McGuire – went before the White Sox tabbed Sale.
Harvey didn’t move quite as quickly as Sale, but he was in New York to stay late last year, when he shined in 10 starts. This season, he’s been one of the biggest stories in baseball. He carried a 0.93 ERA and 32 strikeouts into Wednesday’s start with the Dodgers.
If you’re making a list of the best young arms in baseball, Sale and Harvey both have to be on it. And if you’re making a Cape League list, they have to be at or near the top. Only a handful of 2009 Cape Leaguers have made it to the bigs. Sale and Harvey have made it – and they’ve made it.
Tim Lincecum may yet regain his spot as the Cape League’s best. Either way, it’s going to be crowded up there.