| A change [up] for Liriano? |
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| Written by A Smith | ||||||||
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The question has been posed a lot, thus far, this spring. Will Francisco Liriano be ready for the rotation?
He has had some ups and downs in the last 15 months. Obviously the Tommy John surgery was pretty low, but it sounds like he has been making progress in the past few sessions. He has upped his pitch count, and upped his intensity. His stamina is increasing, but the control seems to be an issue on and off. “ The” pitch used to be his slider, which he threw a lot, but that, with his violent delivery, also maybe contributed to his elbow problems. I don't think he will use this much in the near future because he hasnt been able to control it post- surgery, and if I were him, I would be afraid to throw it if it messed with my elbow!
Photo from sportingnews.com Lirano has been working on getting his change-up up to speed, so to speak, though. I think this will be good for him. Instead of having to rely on a pitch that is potentially harmful (and hasn't been effective since the surgery) he can use his change-up more reliably with his decent top velocity, once that comes with a little more intensity. The Twins' pitching coach, Rick Anderson, has noted that Liriano is making progress in controlling his delivery. It used to be quite violent, with Liriano nearly facing the wrong way in the end. But it doesn't sound like Franchise really likes the new way. He says that it doesn't feel like he is throwing as hard. Anderson contributes this to the fact that he hasn't quite pulled his intensity back to where it was, and also because with such a violent motion, it just seems like you're throwing harder. With a more controlled delivery, you're not putting your body into uncomfortable positions which may seem like you're putting forth more effort. With all that said, I think we should continue being careful with Liriano. I don't want to rush into things that could prove to be damaging in the long run. Maybe keep him out of the rotation for a little while, and keep him working out and maybe pitching a few minor league games for now. I think that after losing Johan, we need to have a star pitcher to round out the rotation. So we need to preserve what we got and hope for the best while Franchise Liriano hopefully gets to where he was in '06.
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