The Most Interesting Man in Baseball

Posted by on Monday, June 27, 2011 · Leave a Comment 

Francisco Liriano’s five year stint in the major leagues has been anything but typical. His career arc looks like a loopy, spiraling roller coaster, filled with highs, lows, twists and turns. From his initial dominance in 2006 to his demotion to the minor leagues in 2008 to his tainted no hitter this season, Liriano has provided fans with a career’s worth of highlights and lowlights in only five short years. For a team filled with the Michael Cuddyers and Carl Pavanos of the world, just leave it up to Francisco Liriano to bring some excitement to Target Field.
 
 Liriano came to the Twins in 2003 from the Giants along with Joe Nathan and Boof Bonser in exchange for A.J. Pierzynski. (A side note about this trade: Liriano was considered the ‘player to be named later’ type in the deal. Nathan wound up being an All Star closer and Pierzynski lasted only one year in San Francisco. On top of that, his departure from Minnesota opened up a spot at catcher for top prospect Joe Mauer.) After dominating the minor leagues, Liriano was called up in September of 2005. In May of 2006, Liriano replaced Carlos Silva in the starting rotation and went on to go 12-3. He was named Rookie of the Month twice and was selected to the AL All Star team. In 16 starts he compiled a ridiculous 144 strikeouts with a 2.16 ERA and 1.00 WHIP. I remember watching him pitch a few times this season and just being blown away by his stuff. That nasty slider of his quickly became one of the best knockout punches in baseball. At this point, we’ve reached a peak of the Liriano roller coaster. Time for a big drop.

In August of the 2006 season after breezing through American League hitters, Liriano began to experience forearm pain and had to be placed on the DL. After an attempted return, he decided to undergo the dreaded Tommy John surgery in November, sidelining the budding superstar for the entire 2007 season. His return in 2008 was not what many had expected. He began the season 0-3 with an 11.32 ERA and was sent back to AAA. I think at this point we’ve hit the bottom again.

Liriano went on to dominate AAA hitting to the tune of a 10-0 record and a 2.67 ERA. He was called back up in August of 2008 and won his first four starts, eventually dropping that 11.32 ERA down to a more respectable 3.91. Liriano was back and ready for a breakout season in 2009. If only it were that easy.

The slow walk back to the dugout is an all-to-familiar sight for Liriano.

The following season turned out to be a disaster. Liriano finished the season with a 5-13 record and a 5.80 ERA. His strikeout numbers were down, his slider was missing and by the end of the season Liriano was relegated to middle relief duty. The Francisco Liriano that wowed Major League baseball in 2006 had become merely an extra arm out the bullpen.

 This is when the story takes another turn. Liriano decided to head back home during the offseason to play for Leones del Escogido in the Dominican Winter Leagues. He led his team to the postseason and went 3-1 with a 0.49 ERA in seven playoff starts, striking out 47 and walking only five in 37 innings. His performance carried a mythical aura to it, like this monster that we had all been waiting for had finally awoken. He arrived at training camp in better shape and impressed Twins coaches. After strong consideration of making Liriano the closer for the 2010 season, the Twins decided to instead put him back into the rotation. Right away, it was clear that this was not the same pitcher who struggled through the previous season. The velocity on his fastball was back up to the mid 90s and his slider was much more effective. As is typical with Liriano, the season had its ups and downs, but for the most part he finally proved to be the ace of the staff that was expected since the 2006 season. Liriano finished 5th in the AL in strikeouts with 201. His ERA was 3.62, but from a sabermetric standpoint his 2.66 FIP and 2.95 xFIP were among the top three in the American League (check here for a little rundown of the FIP statistic). He led the Twins to the playoffs and started Game 1 of the ALDS.

Francisco Liriano’s current season is basically a microcosm of his entire career. The Twins ace was simply awful right out the gate, giving up 24 earned runs in 23.2 innings and in serious jeopardy of losing his spot in the rotation. Then, on May 3, amid all this pressure, Liriano goes out and throws a no hitter against the White Sox. (Although an impressive feat, the six walks took a little bit away from the accomplishment). On June 12, he took another no hitter to the 8th inning against the Rangers. Here’s a pitcher as close as one can get to losing their job who can still go out and in the next month nearly throw two no hitters. Such is the life of Francisco Liriano.

Liriano is only 27. His best years are still ahead and I’m sure this roller coaster ride will continue to have its peaks and valleys. One thing to take from this is the type of pitcher Liriano wants to be. During his awful April, Twins coaches tried to tell Liriano to slow down and ‘pitch to contact’. This turned out to be terrible advice and Liriano’s success as of late has been a result of not following it. After the near no hitter against the Rangers, Liriano said, “I’ve always been the power pitcher, trying to strike out people. I feel more comfortable pitching like that. I’m trying to be me, the way I used to pitch last year and the year before. I’m not thinking about contact at all.” The key for Liriano is getting enough speed and accuracy on his fastball and secondary pitches and being able to use that devastating slider as a knockout punch. I’ve watched a lot of guys throw out some really nasty sliders, but when Liriano is on his game the pitch is nearly unhittable. The Twins now have their ace back and are soaring up the AL Central standings. Only time will tell if the Liriano roller coaster is still approaching the peak or is ready for another fall.

 

 ETA: On Saturday, Lirano’s line looked like this: 3.2 IP, 8 H, 6 R, 2 BB, 3 K…….the insanity continues.

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