The All-Star who almost wasn't
By Mark Pesavento, Yahoo! Sports
July 10, 2006
PITTSBURGH – It's 11 a.m. and Francisco Liriano, the most dominant pitcher in baseball, is nowhere to be found among the media day frenzy at the shiny downtown Westin Convention Center. In fact, he's not even this side of the Tropic of Cancer. This simple truth does not deter the game's best players from gushing about the Minnesota Twins' rookie left-hander as though he's the second coming.
"Amazing," said wide-eyed Chicago Cubs pitcher Carlos Zambrano.
"Dominant," said breathless Milwaukee Brewers closer Derrick Turnbow.
"Electric," said Liriano's normally understated Twins batterymate Joe Mauer.
"Uncomfortable," said unflappable Chicago White Sox first baseman Paul Konerko.
"Filthy," said silky-smooth Cleveland Indians outfielder Grady Sizemore, shaking his head in disbelief.
"Silly," said awestruck Brewers pitcher Chris Capuano.
"Special," said Toronto Blue Jays manager John Gibbons. "We didn't sniff him."
You get the picture.
The 22-year-old Liriano is blowing away American League batters in his first two months in a big-league rotation. He's 10-1, has allowed only 63 hits in 88 1/3 innings, and has 102 strikeouts against 23 walks. His 1.83 earned-run average leads the next best pitcher by over a full run.
And, as of Monday morning – after losing the weekend "Final Vote" to White Sox catcher A.J. Pierzynski, who benefited from the club's cheeky "Punch A.J." campaign – Liriano wasn't even on the All-Star team.
"It's their loss, it's the nation's loss, it's the world's loss not to see that young man pitch," Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said of the snub after Liriano threw seven shutout innings at the Texas Rangers on Saturday night.
Gardenhire's mood surely lightened Monday afternoon, when White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen called on Liriano to replace Jose Contreras on the AL roster.
Liriano is expected to be in Pittsburgh on Tuesday to make his first appearance in the Midsummer Classic, but not without complication. He had been shaking off the disappointment of being left off the team by visiting family in the Dominican Republic and will fly here on short notice.
It's a good thing he's able to make the trip. Leaving the Cy Young frontrunner off the All-Star team is an egregious mistake.
And to think Liriano was considered a throw-in in the November 2003 deal that sent Joe Nathan, Boof Bonser and Liriano from the San Francisco Giants to the Twins in exchange for Pierzynski and cash.
Think Giants general manager Brian Sabean would like to have that one back?
"Francisco's unbelievable," said Johan Santana, the 2004 AL Cy Young winner. "Even beyond pitching. He's got great stuff, but also he's a great person. He's always listening, always trying to learn. When he doesn't know what's going on, he asks."
As with Santana in 2000 and 2001, the Twins were under pressure last season to keep Liriano in the big club's rotation but brought him along slowly. He made four starts for Minnesota in 2005 before being returned to Triple-A Rochester (where he went 9-2 with a 1.78 ERA), and he began this season in the bullpen until he got a start at Milwaukee on May 19.
Liriano hasn't looked back since, winning nine of 10 decisions. Indians manager Eric Wedge thinks that's proof the Twins were right to proceed with caution.
"They've done a good job breaking him in in the bullpen and giving him the time he needs in Triple-A," Wedge said. "He's been handled very well. I think what they've done [has facilitated] that maturation process and helped him succeed."
The results speak for themselves.
"His stuff is crazy," Turnbow said. "It's overpowering. His slider, everything is just unbelievable, almost to the point of being unhittable. If he keeps doing what he's doing, he's going to be here for about 20 All-Star games."
So, Carlos Lee, is Liriano the best young pitcher in baseball right now?
"I would say that," said Lee, the Brewers' slugging left-fielder.
And Chris Capuano, what do your Brewers teammates say after an at-bat against Liriano?
"Mostly it's just shaking their head … or you hear a bat slam down," Capuano replied.
Paul Konerko, what advice do you give teammates after facing Liriano?
"Don't go up there," he said.
Konerko gave a laugh, and it was clear he was happy to be on the same team as his AL Central division rival – if only for a day.
Mark Pesavento is the senior MLB editor of Yahoo! Sports.
By Mark Pesavento, Yahoo! Sports
July 10, 2006
PITTSBURGH – It's 11 a.m. and Francisco Liriano, the most dominant pitcher in baseball, is nowhere to be found among the media day frenzy at the shiny downtown Westin Convention Center. In fact, he's not even this side of the Tropic of Cancer. This simple truth does not deter the game's best players from gushing about the Minnesota Twins' rookie left-hander as though he's the second coming.
"Amazing," said wide-eyed Chicago Cubs pitcher Carlos Zambrano.
"Dominant," said breathless Milwaukee Brewers closer Derrick Turnbow.
"Electric," said Liriano's normally understated Twins batterymate Joe Mauer.
"Uncomfortable," said unflappable Chicago White Sox first baseman Paul Konerko.
"Filthy," said silky-smooth Cleveland Indians outfielder Grady Sizemore, shaking his head in disbelief.
"Silly," said awestruck Brewers pitcher Chris Capuano.
"Special," said Toronto Blue Jays manager John Gibbons. "We didn't sniff him."
You get the picture.
The 22-year-old Liriano is blowing away American League batters in his first two months in a big-league rotation. He's 10-1, has allowed only 63 hits in 88 1/3 innings, and has 102 strikeouts against 23 walks. His 1.83 earned-run average leads the next best pitcher by over a full run.
And, as of Monday morning – after losing the weekend "Final Vote" to White Sox catcher A.J. Pierzynski, who benefited from the club's cheeky "Punch A.J." campaign – Liriano wasn't even on the All-Star team.
"It's their loss, it's the nation's loss, it's the world's loss not to see that young man pitch," Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said of the snub after Liriano threw seven shutout innings at the Texas Rangers on Saturday night.
Gardenhire's mood surely lightened Monday afternoon, when White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen called on Liriano to replace Jose Contreras on the AL roster.
Liriano is expected to be in Pittsburgh on Tuesday to make his first appearance in the Midsummer Classic, but not without complication. He had been shaking off the disappointment of being left off the team by visiting family in the Dominican Republic and will fly here on short notice.
It's a good thing he's able to make the trip. Leaving the Cy Young frontrunner off the All-Star team is an egregious mistake.
And to think Liriano was considered a throw-in in the November 2003 deal that sent Joe Nathan, Boof Bonser and Liriano from the San Francisco Giants to the Twins in exchange for Pierzynski and cash.
Think Giants general manager Brian Sabean would like to have that one back?
"Francisco's unbelievable," said Johan Santana, the 2004 AL Cy Young winner. "Even beyond pitching. He's got great stuff, but also he's a great person. He's always listening, always trying to learn. When he doesn't know what's going on, he asks."
As with Santana in 2000 and 2001, the Twins were under pressure last season to keep Liriano in the big club's rotation but brought him along slowly. He made four starts for Minnesota in 2005 before being returned to Triple-A Rochester (where he went 9-2 with a 1.78 ERA), and he began this season in the bullpen until he got a start at Milwaukee on May 19.
Liriano hasn't looked back since, winning nine of 10 decisions. Indians manager Eric Wedge thinks that's proof the Twins were right to proceed with caution.
"They've done a good job breaking him in in the bullpen and giving him the time he needs in Triple-A," Wedge said. "He's been handled very well. I think what they've done [has facilitated] that maturation process and helped him succeed."
The results speak for themselves.
"His stuff is crazy," Turnbow said. "It's overpowering. His slider, everything is just unbelievable, almost to the point of being unhittable. If he keeps doing what he's doing, he's going to be here for about 20 All-Star games."
So, Carlos Lee, is Liriano the best young pitcher in baseball right now?
"I would say that," said Lee, the Brewers' slugging left-fielder.
And Chris Capuano, what do your Brewers teammates say after an at-bat against Liriano?
"Mostly it's just shaking their head … or you hear a bat slam down," Capuano replied.
Paul Konerko, what advice do you give teammates after facing Liriano?
"Don't go up there," he said.
Konerko gave a laugh, and it was clear he was happy to be on the same team as his AL Central division rival – if only for a day.
Mark Pesavento is the senior MLB editor of Yahoo! Sports.
