Hopefully this is a pattern and not a fluke
Posted by ubelmann on Sunday, June 1st, 2008 at 5:48 pm
Walks per start, Francisco Liriano, 2008:
3 -- April 8th
5 -- April 13th (MLB)
5 -- April 18th (MLB)
3 -- April 24th (MLB), 0.2 IP
5 -- April 30th
4 -- May 5th
2 -- May 10th
1 -- May 15th
1 -- May 20th
1 -- May 26th
1 -- May 31st
It's just 4-5 games, and he's only been over 5 strikeouts once so far (that was yesterday), but it's not a bad sign for the walks to be going down. I'm sure it's still going to be a long road before he's an above average major league pitcher again (if it happens at all), but hopefully that day comes eventually.
Loading ...
I've always thought that estimated timeframes for returning to top form following TJ surgery are overly optimistic. There are probably exceptions, but it seems that it takes about two full years following the surgery to be back to where a pitcher was before the surgery. Liriano is still building up his arm strenght, and with it control of his fastball. I also wonder if some of his control issues this year relate more to his new reliance on throwing the changeup. That can be a tough pitch to spot, and most strikes on the change are of the swinging variety. We've seen with Johan in the past that when patient hitters lay off the changeup, pitch counts go up and efficiency goes down.
Everyone needs to relax with this kid (including the kid himself). Let him pitch for a year in the minors get his stuff back and Franball will be back before we know it. He's gonna be a great pitcher again, he'll make the first opening day start in our new stadium.