Recently we pointed out that Giants pitcher Matt Cain was named the most underrated pitcher in baseball when polled by a group of players.
Two more Giants pitchers made a list for their respective ratings, though this one isn't as kind. Both Tim Lincecum and Barry Zito managed to land on a "Most Overrated Pitchers in Baseball" list as compiled by Sports Illustrated.
Lincecum checks in as the sixth-most-overrated pitcher and at the moment it's fairly difficult to argue with his placement on this list.
The Freak is paid handsomely and has a pair of Cy Young Awards on his shelf. He was considered, heading into this year, as one of the top pitchers in baseball.
He's hardly performed like one, however, and has the eighth-highest ERA of any ERA-title-eligible pitcher in baseball. That's freaky, and not in the good way.
Zito's placement on this list, as hard as it is to imagine, is even tougher to pinpoint. That's not because Zito's not overpaid, though. He is. He's horribly overpaid.
But the general consensus of Zito in the eyes of baseball fans and the media is that he's simply not one of the best pitchers in baseball. And he's not.
Sports
Perhaps players feel differently, but it's literally impossible for a bunch of players to hear and read about how awesome Zito is and think to themselves "He's not that great." That's because no one goes around talking about how amazing a pitcher Zito is.
Hence, he's more properly rated than anything -- the expectations are low for him, and it's considered a surprise that he's actually doing a decent job of holding his own this year, which makes it tough to understand how anyone could feel that he's "overrated."
On the bright side, the Phillies landed all three of their big-name starting pitchers and their closer on this list. So there's that.
