Liriano: A Conversation Point

by AdamOnFirst on Apr 8, 2008 9:47 PM EDT in News Comment 14 comments

According to Joe Christensen's blog, Fransisco Liriano had a marginal start tonight in Rochester:

Francisco Liriano needed 88 pitches to get through four innings tonight for Class AAA Rochester, and Casey Daigle has replaced him to start the fifth inning in Norfolk, Va.

Liriano gave up three runs on five hits, with three walks and three strikeouts. It remains unclear if that was enough to convince the Twins he is ready to rejoin the major league rotation.

Alexi Casilla did make two errors in the field behind Liriano, which cost him somewhat in his final line, but those results remain discouraging coming from AAA. It looks like Liriano may make another start or two in the minors before trying his hand in the major. However, Liriano WILL be called up sooner or later, and probably not too much later. The question then becomes, which Twins starter is demoted?

The obvious answer is Nick Blackburn. He was the last pitcher to make the roster. Baker and Bonser seemed to have earned full time jobs, at least for awhile longer, in the major leagues, and Kevin Slowey was the organization's best pitcher not named Santana last year

Of course, then again, Blackburn had a pretty good year in the minors last year as well, spending the bulk of his year in AAA putting up a 2.10 ERA in 110 innings, was recently ranked the Twin's number one prospect by Baseball America, and, oh yeah, has given up only 3 runs along with 12 hits and 3 walks in 12 innings while striking out 11 so far this year. Meanwhile, the aforementioned Kevin Slowey has had only one start in which he started poorly before getting hurt in the fourth inning

The other question concerns how the Twins will demote the pitcher of their choice. WIll they send Blackburn to the bullpen, sending down Brian Bass? Possible. I doubt that Slowey would be sent to the pen.

Personally, if forced to make a choice (which the Twins will be since Livan Hernandez, unfortunately, isn't going anywhere) I'd send Nick Blackburn to AAA. I'm excited by his sudden ability to strike plenty of hitters out, but I just can't put him ahead of Kevin Slowey. In reality, what the Twins do will likely have a lot more to do with what happens in the next week than what happened last year. If Slowey can get healthy, make his next start, and pitch reasonably well, I foresee him staying in the majors. If he can't do that and Blackburn has another great outing, I wouldn't be surprised to see Slowey get sent down.

If you were the Twins, how would YOU handle Liriano's call-up?

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See my fanpost

I thought about posting my fanpost in the features, but thought the better of it. Anyway, I fixed your HTML (can't use _blank tags).

As to your question, I would say Bass would be demoted before Blackburn. They can always move Blackburn to the bullpen to make room for Liriano, and he's ahead of Bass.

"You're thinking too much. Just have fun." -- Bennie "The Jet" Rodriguez in Sandlot

by cmathewson on Apr 8, 2008 9:59 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Oh yeah

Yeah, I noticed that. I wasn't done with the whole story when you first saw it.

"You can't sit on a lead and run a few plays into the line and just kill the clock. You've got to throw the ball over the damn plate and give the other man his chance. That's why baseball is the greatest game of them all."
~ Earl Weaver

by AdamOnFirst on Apr 8, 2008 10:14 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Slowey

I think it will be Slowey who will get sent down. Blackburn has been pretty good so far, and Slowey isn't really even 100%

"Don't take anything for granted, because tomorrow is not promised to any of us."

by Twins Territory on Apr 8, 2008 10:28 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

DL Slowey

That at least would delay a decision. Give Slowey a couple of rehab starts in Rochester. If all goes well, I would outright Bass, move Blackburn to the pen, and slide Slowey into the rotation off the DL.

"You're thinking too much. Just have fun." -- Bennie "The Jet" Rodriguez in Sandlot

by cmathewson on Apr 8, 2008 10:50 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Bass could be lost

He is out of options, so he would have to clear waivers. Plenty of clubs out there need pitching, so that's a factor; though, if he isn't any good, then, no loss.

But, Blackburn has as good of stuff as anyone on the Twins' staff. I would be highly surprised if they send him down. Slowey pitched well enough in Spring to earn a shot at the rotation. You know Gardy wants to honor that.

Right now, the weakest link has been Boof. But, my money is on keeping Liriano in the minors. He isn't ready yet, and if they keep him there for another few weeks, from the way it sounds, they will preserve a year of team control over him. Is that true?

by Old Twins Cap on Apr 8, 2008 11:59 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

There

There is no way they send Boof down, I think. Between what he's done the last two years, and what he did last offseason, I see little chance of him getting sent down.

by AdamOnFirst on Apr 9, 2008 12:34 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Well, then it's Liriano to stay in the minors

Check out these quotes:

"No one wants to get hurt. There's nothing I can do about it," he said. "I'm just trying to get better and I'm working hard."

Rochester manager Stan Cliburn said he didn't think Liriano was real sharp.

"He got deep in counts," Cliburn said. "His fastball was good. The only thing good I saw is he's confident in his breaking ball."

by Old Twins Cap on Apr 9, 2008 1:04 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

But

But he'll be up soon. It will be interesting to see what the team says about Slowey and Blackburn for the next week or two as Liriano sorts himself out.

I mean, after a couple more starts in the minors, he might as well come up. There isn't anything he can learn down there that he can't learn better in the majors, especially with Rick Anderson around.

by AdamOnFirst on Apr 9, 2008 1:22 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Confused by the premise you are presenting

I have to agree with Old Twins Cap. If Liriano is still not pitching well, why "WILL" he be up soon?

Why can't they keep him in the minors until he starts proving he can pitch a full 85-105 pitch count, and do it well? It isn't about "learning" anything whether its against minor league competition or major league competition. Right now Liriano needs to prove he has the arm strength and the physical stamina to pitch well enough anywhere.

by montanatwinsfan on Apr 9, 2008 10:27 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

I'll answer my own question

Still, Gardenhire said he wouldn't hesitate to use Liriano if necessary.

"I'm not worried about him if I bring him up here and start him," Gardenhire said. "He was fine. Pitch-wise he's able to do it. ... Whether he's ready or not, well some people say he was not great, but we know Frankie too and when you put him at a higher level, he throws better. He'll throw better for us than he will for them."

from mlb.com article on Slowey.

by montanatwinsfan on Apr 9, 2008 11:02 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

The opposite is the case

>>There isn't anything he can learn down there that he can't learn better in the majors

This spring, he demonstrated he can't throw his slider for strikes, and at the expense of his fastball he has fallen in love with his changeup, which was his best pitch this spring. His mechanics vary each inning, and it's quite noticeable.

Being those are his problems, it's really a matter of there not being anything he can learn in the majors that he can't in the minors.

He'll suffer a lot less for those inconsistent mechanics in the minors.

Starts that falter the second time through a big-league lineup will not aid his progress, and it won't do the Twins' bullpen any favors, either.

Q: Generally, who should have a larger role in evaluating college and minor league players: scouts or stat guys?

A: Ninety-five percent scouts, five percent stats. Stats can tell you who is good, but they’re almost 100 percent useless when it comes to who will improve. -- Bill James.

by Firpo Marberry on Apr 10, 2008 1:21 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs