Liriano's Return

All Twins fans, rejoice! The Franchise is back! Although most Twins fans undoubtedly watched the game, it's questionable just HOW CLOSELY they watched it. I had to miss the game after the first inning and did not get nearly as close a look as I would have liked and I'm guessing there are a few people out there who are in the same boat as me. To do those people (and myself) a favor, I'm going to rewatch the game on MLB Mosaic and go through a little batter by batter analysis for Liriano's last start. For anybody that reads Baseball Prospectus, this will be similar to Kevin Goldstein's batter by batter analysis of a minor league pitcher. Each pitch will be type-velocity-result: FB for fastball, SL for slider, CH for change-up. A b is a ball, a c a called strike, an s a swinging strike, an f a foul ball, and an x a ball in play.

First Inning

Grady Sizemore: FB91c, FB92b, SL85f, SL86b, SL86s = strikeout.

Liriano's first fastball nailed the outside corner down and away. Second one was going for the same spot but missed outside by about 4 inches. All three sliders looked good -- the second probably should have been a called strike. Grady was just over top of the third one, and although the bite isn't what it used to be (it's more of a slow roll over slider now than a sharp, biting slider), the most important part is that Liriano appears to have good command of it.

Jamey Carroll: FB91b, FB91x = Foul-out to second.

Not as good of a first pitch, here. Redmond set up inside and Liriano missed off the outside corner, missing his spot by about a foot and a half. Redmond set up inside again on the next pitch, and Liriano left it over the middle of the plate just above the belt. More luck than anything that Carroll popped it up; thanks for being a subpar hitter, Jamey.

Ben Francisco: FB92b, FB91c, SL84f, SL86b, SL84s = strikeout.

I'm starting to realize I may be calling Liriano's change-ups sliders, considering I haven't seen one yet. That second slider could have been a change because it had less movement on it than the strikeout pitch, but I seriously hope not. If you're topping out at 92 and your change-up is 86.. Yikes. Otherwise, location was better than with Jamey, but not as good as the Grady PA. The strikeout slider was pretty disgusting, Francisco missed it by about a foot.

Second Inning:

Jhonny Peralta: FB91b, CH82b, FB90b, FB90c, FB90x = 5-3

There's that change-up. The first three pitches were all low, missing their spots. Fourth pitch he got up just barely to the knees. Fifth pitch wasn't anything special, again at the knees and near the middle of the plate. He's not consistently hitting his spots, but at least he's keeping the ball down. Getting away with missing low is a lot easier than getting away with missing high; just ask Baker about 2006.

Kelly Shoppach: FB92c, CH82x = F7.

Quick strike on the inside corner, solid pitch. Got Shoppach to pull a high and away change-up for a flyout. Solid, quick AB.

Ryan Garko: FB91x = F9.

Thank you, Ryan Garko, for having absolutely no patience. Simple get-ahead-early type pitch, fastball hitting the ouside corner around the thighs and Garko puts a lazy fly to deep right that Span barely had to move for. Not much to talk about as far as pitching beyond Liriano hit the location of his last three pitches.

Third inning:

Franklin Gutierrez: FB90c, CH83f, FB92f, SL85b, SL84b, CH84f, FB91x = 4-3

Both change-ups were pulled foul mainly because they were change-ups, both left over the heart of the plate. The second got lined hard foul down the left field line. The first slider was a great take by Gutierrez, was a solid pitch. Ground out came on a well placed low and away fastball that would have been a strike had Gutierrez not swung. Meanwhile, Dick and Bert are talking about winning a Gold Glove at first base. Enlightening.

Andy Gonzalez: FB91b, FB91c, FB92b, FB91b, FB90b = BB

The first and fourth pitches were nowhere close, and the fifth still missed by several inches. Redmond even gave Liriano the universal "calm the hell down" sign after the third ball. Not good, because Andy Gonzalez isn't exactly a threat to be pitching around.

Asdrubal Cabrera: FB90b, FB90b, FB91f, FB89c, SL83s = strikeout

Liriano's first pitch, again, misses by over a foot, causing Redmond to go to the mound. The ump really did Liriano a favor with the called second strike. The slider was slower, but had a lot of movement on it and made Adrubal look absolutely foolish. Started looking like it was coming over the middle of the plate thigh high, ended up around Asdrubal's knees and maybe 6" inside.

Grady Sizemore: FB92b, SL82b, FB93b, FB91b = BB, Gonzalez to 2nd.

That'll happen if you lose control against a good hitter. None of the pitches were particularly close and Grady didn't look interested in any of them.

Jamey Carroll: FB91b, CH83c, CH81b, CH81c, SL82x = E6, Gonzalez to 3rd, Sizemore to 2nd.

That third change-up had a good amount of movement so that it could have been a really slowly thrown slider.. Regardless, Redmond set up inside and it ended up high and away. Could give Liriano the benefit of the doubt and say he misfired that one, but it's a little disconcerting. Last pitch was definitely a slower slider that Carroll knocked right to Harris. Brendan Harris promptly remembered that he was playing shortstop and his name is "Brendan Harris" and failed to get the out.

Ben Francisco: SL84b, SL82c, CH83s, FB93b, SL84f, FB87f, FB93s = strikeout

Francisco didn't like that second slider call, with good reason, it looked inside, too. Liriano got really lucky on the second to last pitch, an 87 mph fastball that stayed about thigh high and over the outside half of the plate. The next pitch he dialed back up to 93 with some movement that seemed to go up and away. Good looking pitch, would have been a ball but started off looking like it'd be over the outer half.

Fourth Inning:

Jhonny Peralta: FB92b, FB89f, SL83s, SL84f, CH83x = Infield single to third.

The first slider was very pretty, and Jhonny went right over top of it. The second had a lot less bite, which is why Jhonny fouled it off instead of swinging over top. Liriano's slider looks almost more like a slurve now, and it's going around the same speed as his change, which is fairly straight. It's an interesting combination. Would have been a ground out but Buscher's throw bounced and Lamb couldn't handle it.

Kelly Shoppach: CH82s, CH82s, SL84s = strikeout

Wow, Kelly Shoppach just looked bad. At the same time, Liriano looked very good. First change-up was right on the outside corner at the knees, second was a little low in the middle, and the slider came low and in with Shoppach swinging over it. Slider had more bite and late movement than some of the other ones, but for once, Liriano put all of his pitches right where he wanted them.

Ryan Garko: FB92b, FB92c, FB92f, CH84f, CH83x = Soft single over short, Peralta to 2nd.

Liriano's not missing his spots by much anymore, if he misses them. The first change was over the heart of the plate but seemed to catch Garko by surprise and was pulled foul, the second was a much better pitch, over the middle and just below the knees, but Garko managed to take an off-balance swing and get enough contact to bloop the ball over Harris's head. No complaints about the pitch itself, though.

Franklin Gutierrez: FB91b, CH82b, FB91b, FB90c, FB91x = GIDP, 6-4-3

More bad hitting than good pitching here. First three pitches all miss their mark, fifth pitch was just a simple get-me-over fastball on the outer half of the plate around the waist. Gutierrez tried to pull it though and hit it right at Harris. Give more credit to Punto on the turn than Liriano's pitching for the DP.


Fifth Inning:

Andy Gonzalez: SL81b, FB90c, FB91b, FB91x = single to left

Before I start talking about this AB, I have to tell you that Dick and Bert are talking about Dick's senior prom. Yes, Twins broadcast! Not terrible location on the fastballs (the slider bounced), all three on or around the outside corner. Gonzalez just got decent contact on one.

Asdrubal Cabrera: CH80s (bunting), FB88x = Sac bunt, 1-4, Gonzalez to 2nd.

All I'm going to say about this is AB is that Cabrera is an atrocious bunter. That first change-up was about 6" outside and Cabrera missed it by several inches and got a strike called on him. Liriano seemed to say "I'll take a free out" with his second pitch, putting a fastball over the plate for Cabrera.

Grady Sizemore: CH81b, FB92b, FB91b, FB91b = BB, Gonzalez to 2nd

Get the ball over the plate. Seriously.

Jamey Carroll: FB90b, FB91x = 5-3, Gonzalez to 3rd, Sizemore to 2nd

Bounces the first pitch in front of the plate. Awesome. Then Jamey Carroll says "Wait, the last five pitches have missed horribly? I'm going to swing at this next strike instead of waiting to see if I can draw an easy walk!" Groundout. Thanks, Jamey.

Ben Francisco: SL82b, CH83x = 5-3

The first pitch misses pretty poorly, Redmond setting up inside and the slider missing outside. The second was in a good spot, low and away, but seriously, thank the Indians hitters for swinging aggressively here. And for trying to pull low and away pitches.

Sixth Inning:

Jhonny Peralta: FB91x = Popout to second

Good location on the inside corner. The Indians lineup continues to swing at the first strike they see and make poor contact.

Kelly Shoppach: FB88c, FB90x = F9

At least Kelly took one strike. Liriano's starting to hit the corners again. The good thing about Liriano's command is he's not missing over the heart of the plate when he misses, just off the plate. When he's on, he's hitting the corners consistently and moving his location around. He's also not given up any really solid contact yet.

Ryan Garko: FB88b, CH82c, FB91f, FB90b, SL82f, SL82f, CH81b, FB91x = 4-3

I'm not sure if that second to last pitch was a slider or a change. At this point, Liriano's slider has lost a lot of bite and has dropped about 4mph from the start of the game.

If you could ever say a pitcher had poor control (throws a lot of balls, walks) but decent command (locates his strikes well), then that's what Liriano was this game. Only came over the heart of the plate a few times (one of those last two sliders, along with maybe 5 other times throughout the game), but would also throw balls that missed the plate by a foot. A solid return, no doubt, but he was helped by an impatient Indians lineup and the fact that hitters never seemed to capitalize on his mistakes. You obviously can't expect Liriano circa 2006, but have to just hope he can be a solid starter. It looked to me like he's got decent stuff, but he really has to work on that control before he's comfortably reliable. A team with more patient hitters (Boston, New York) would have done much better than the Indians in that last game.