Francisco Liriano of old?

Status
Not open for further replies.

A.E

Vottomatic
Hall of Fame
Joined
Mar 31, 2007
Messages
14,335
Reaction score
132
Ladies & gentlemen, Francisco Liriano is back!!! Or so it would appear to be.

It was over 3 years ago when Liriano underwent Tommy John Surgery, a procedure that saw him miss all of 2007 and then struggle to regain form over the ensuing seasons. Enter 2010 and suddenly Francisco Liriano absolutely dominated the Dominican Winter League. Twins Manager Ron Gardenhire told the media that Liriano is "throwing the living fire out of the ball". Liriano's fastball was consistently hitting the 92-94 mph range and his slider is back too. What say Gardenhire of Liriano's old strikeout pitch? Well lets just say he called it "filthy".

Liriano was carrying an 0.82 ERA all DWL-season long, a 54-to-7 strikeout to walk ratio, and a command and control that hasn't been seen from him since that 2006 rookie campaign of his. Liriano was straight up pwing Dominican hitters, hitting 96 mph with his fastball at times and then consistently sitting batters down with a wicked slider in the 80's.

Now Ron Gardenhire did hype up Liriano's play in the DWL 2 years ago...only to see Liriano struggle with velocity and control in Spring Training. Plenty of reasons to be skeptical about Liriano's success translating into MLB success in 2010, however it seems that the man's confidence is back with him. You can never expect pitchers to bounce right back the first throwing year following TJ surgery. Liriano went through what most pitchers go through, that re-adjustment period of uncertainty and a little bit of paranoia. Last season was more of control issues, Liriano fell behind schedule, his secondary numbers weren't bad but his ERA was too high. Ultimately, Liriano looks good for the spring and as long as he can sustain the command, control, and confidence we've seen from him this winter...he'll be breaking out a year later than initially expected.

 

cruzg24

It is what it is
Joined
May 18, 2008
Messages
21,184
Reaction score
209
Ive seen this before, pitchers have these amazing Spring Trainings and then the cover just falls off and they get tagged in the regular season. Happened to John Maine 2 years ago as well. But Liriano is a special case because he does have the track record to back it up. Just gonna have to wait and see if he can get that consistency back.
 

playmaker7

The GOAT
Hall of Fame
Joined
Feb 18, 2006
Messages
53,162
Reaction score
226
Steroids

But it will be interesting to see if he keeps it up
 

elcheato

Well-Known Member
Hall of Fame
Joined
Jun 11, 2008
Messages
67,842
Reaction score
2,208
3rd straight CY Young from the AL Central from people you don't expect it, calling it now lol
 

cruzg24

It is what it is
Joined
May 18, 2008
Messages
21,184
Reaction score
209
Im gonna have to go with King Felix this year. He's got his big money contract, a nice #2 behind him who can give him some good pointers as well. I think hes gonna put it all together this year, or maybe CC actually, he had a really good 1st year in the AL East.
 

RipCity32

King Of The East
Hall of Fame
Joined
Jan 22, 2006
Messages
88,197
Reaction score
730
Meh, I'll believe it when I see it lol.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Users Who Are Viewing This Thread (Users: 0, Guests: 1)

Who Wins Game 5?

  • Tampa Bay Rays (Away)

    Votes: 5 33.3%
  • Houston Astros (Home)

    Votes: 10 66.7%
Top