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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.
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.
