The Brewster

His first complete game in 92 career starts is a no-hitter? 2 Ks, 6 BBs, and 53% of pitches thrown for strikes? Ain't baseball a beautiful game?

Liriano has been an interesting pitcher to watch. I remember his impact before his surgery, and how utterly dominating he was. As normal he struggled with consitency after he returned, and I don't think he will ever be the same pitcher again. He is a good #3 guy on a competing team, but he has to be the ace of a Twins team that is a trainwreck. I like him though, and wish him all the luck in the world.

I think I drafted him as a closer one year on a fantasy team. Was that with the Twins?

Here's what I see from him in a very surface examination. First off, make note that he was very good last year. He wasn't as good as he was before, but that could very easily have been a fluke. He had just started developing in the minors and gaining command. He was very young and had some wicked stuff from the left side. He still has that wicked stuff. What he doesn't have is the same command of his pitches. When he was at his best for that short window, guys were swinging at a lot of his pitches, because he was in the strike zone. Interestingly, they were also missing more of the pitches they swung at, indicating perhaps that the movement on his ball was greater back then. Now, when he is in the strike zone, they are hitting it, and that makes him try to get too fine and pitch less in the zone. Thus, the walks. He is also allowing alot more balls to be hit into the outfield in the air, not more line drives. That indicates to me that he is missing high, getting the ball up, and seeing it driven. A lot more of the hits he is allowing are for extra bases, thus more runs. He pitches from behind in more counts with less movement, thus hitters are walking more and/or driving the ball more.

In the end, it does take some time after a major injury to get back. The report a couple of days before the no-hitter was that the Twins had discovered some sort of inconsistency in his delivery. It clearly didn't help his control with 6 walks, but it may have improved his movement. The stuff he was throwing up there looked pretty nasty. If he can continue that nastiness and gain more confidence in throwing the ball in the strike zone, it is still very possible that he gets back to where he was.

Many guys who used to blow away batters can't or won't swallow their pride and embrace control and movement to get the job done. There may have been a large amount of "luck" involved in a 2-strikeout no-no, but it also could soothe his ego enough to change his philosophy.

His numbers last year suggest he was still awfully good, just not to the level that he was before the injury. Just off to a rough start perhaps?