Liriano's New Role

Remember Francisco Liriano in 2006, he went 12-3 with a 2.16 and a K/9 rate of 10.7. The Twins were all set. Liriano would anchor their rotation for years and become the dominate pitcher the Twins have lacked for years. Well, that didn't happen. Francisco Liriano has struggled mightily as a starter since coming back from Tommy John surgery. His numbers since the surgery are: 38 game starts (43 games total), 212.2 innings pitched, ERA of 5.13 and 8 strikeouts per 9 innings. Not effective, not even close. The alarming ERA of 5.13 gives the team little chance to win. Time to go in a new direction: Set up man for the set up men. Starting pitchers go about 6 innings/100 pitches if they have a good game. That leaves a third of the game in the hands of the bullpen. Guerrier, Mijares and Nathan usually take the 8th and 9th innings. Liriano should move into that 7th inning role. Something in the Phil Hughes mold. Last season Liriano showed he could dominate in short stretches that usually occurred in the first inning. On pitches 1-15 in each of his appearances he faced 146 batters last season. Those batters hit only .205/.282/.342. He struck out 42 of those 146 hitters. Starting with 16th pitch and onward he allows all hitters to perform like Denard Span. If I had to guess, the Twins are probably thinking of a middle to late inning role for him. It may suit him well, he throws hard, has a limited focus and then calls it a night. Francisco Liriano of 2006 is gone. As fans we need to readjust our thinking and see him as still valuable, but in the bullpen.