Francisco Liriano:  Is He Back?

In 2006, the Minnesota Twins thought they had TWO aces on their staff.  They enjoyed the continued dominance of Johan Santana, and a new young pitcher named Francisco Liriano was stepping up and showing that he was pretty dominant himself.

After going 12-3 at the beginning of that year with a 2.16 ERA, Liriano got hurt and needed Tommy John surgery.  He missed a year because of the surgery, and during that time the Twins shipped Santana to the Mets.  What’s worse, when Liriano came back, he didn’t seem to be the same dominant pitcher that we all remembered.  Whether it was from a lack of confidence, the fact that the Twins coaching staff decided to “fix” his throwing motion, or more likely, a little of both, Liriano seemed shaky on the mound.  His confidence wasn’t there, his attitude wasn’t there, and his slider wasn’t there.

During Spring Training this year, Liriano was in a battle with Brian Duensing to see who would win the 5th starting spot in the rotation.  Liriano had some mediocre days in Spring ball, but he had enough good outings to eventually win the job.

Since then, he has been a new man.

Liriano has started 4 games so far this year.   His first game was against the White Sox, and he wasn’t exactly “lights out”.   He had a quality start, giving up 3 runs in 6 innings, but he wasn’t dominant, and he didn’t get the decision.  After that game, though, was when the big changes started happening.  He’s pitched 3 times since, going 7 innings against Boston, 8 innings against Cleveland, and 8 innings against Detroit without giving up a single run.  In those 23 scoreless innings he’s walked only 5 batters and struck out 24.  He’s only given up 14 hits in those 23 innings as well.

He currently has the best ERA in the American League, sitting at 0.93.   He’s 6th in the AL with 27 total strike outs.  He currently leads the team in innings pitched at 29, and he’s tied with Carl Pavano for most wins on the team at 3.   He’s given up only 3 runs on the season, which is 6 runs fewer than any other Twins starting pitcher (and 3 runs fewer than reliever Jesse Crain).

The Twins are hoping that they made a good gamble keeping Liriano around despite his struggles for the past two years.

Maybe this is the year that proves they were right?

Related Posts:

• Some Facts and Stats About The Twins So Far This Season
• Francisco Liriano is the AL Pitcher Of the Month for April
• Francisco Liriano Should NOT Be The Closer