Twins' Faith in Liriano Could Finally Pay Off
In November 2003, Francisco Liriano was an afterthought in the trade that sent catcher A. J. Pierzynski to the Giants and pitcher Joe Nathan to the Twins. Liriano was coming off an injury-plagued season, and San Francisco included him and pitcher Boof Bonser, another minor leaguer, in the trade.
Finally healthy this season, Liriano has emerged as one of the top pitchers in the Twins' organization, if not in the entire minor leagues.
While Pierzynski played just one season for the Giants before signing with the White Sox as a free agent, Nathan has saved 78 games for the Twins since the trade, and Bonser leads the Class AAA International League with 161 strikeouts. But Liriano has made a bigger impression this season and was rewarded yesterday with a call-up to Minnesota.
After being promoted to Class AAA Rochester in June, Liriano posted a 9-2 record with a 1.78 earned run average, 112 strikeouts and 24 walks over 91 innings.
Liriano, a 6-foot-2 left-hander, was third in the International League in strikeouts even though he was the only pitcher among the top 20 who had thrown fewer than 100 innings.
He was the starter for the World Team in this year's Future's Game and threw a perfect first inning. This week, he was named the International League's rookie of the year.
"This year I just wanted to stay healthy," Liriano, 21, said in a telephone interview. "Things have just got better and better. I've come a long way, but I just got to keep working and see what happens."
One of the things Liriano has been working on is maintaining a consistent motion to avoid putting additional strain on his left elbow, which gave him problems in 2003.
"There were some things he was doing wrong, and we just tried to find a way where he could finish his motion where it wouldn't be so much strain on his body," said Bobby Cuellar, the Rochester pitching coach. "He's done a lot of individual work on it, and he's done pretty well with it."
Earlier this season, the Twins balked at including Liriano in a trade for Texas second basemen Alfonso Soriano, and the deal fell through. Liriano said that despite the comparisons to Johan Santana, Minnesota's Cy Young Award winner, and all the other attention he has drawn, he needed to keep his focus.
World Cup Is Under Way
The 2005 World Cup began yesterday in the Netherlands, with the Netherlands defeating China, 13-3, in the first game.
The tournament, the largest official international event of the year, runs through Sept. 17. Amateur players and those not on the 40-man rosters of major league organizations comprise the rosters.
The United States team has a distinctly Queens flavor thanks to two players from the Mets organization and a former Mets manager. Outfielder Lastings Milledge (Class AA Binghamton) and the right-handed pitcher Brian Bannister (Class AAA Norfolk) are on the team, which will be managed by Davey Johnson, who guided the Mets to their last World Series title, in 1986.
The Greek team withdrew for financial reasons and will be replaced by the Czech Republic.
Isotopes' Slugger Is Hot
Albuquerque outfielder Mike Colangelo hit a solo home run in the bottom of the second inning of the Isotopes' 11-6 victory over Round Rock on Wednesday night, giving him home runs in six straight games. He was one shy of the Pacific Coast League (Class AAA) record, set in 1977 by Claude Westmoreland, but he failed to hit a home run on Thursday night. The Anaheim Angels selected Colangelo in the 21st round of the draft in 1997.
Steroids Joke in Richmond
The Richmond Roosters of the independent Frontier League are proud of the fact that they have never had a player test positive for steroids, and now they are going to take their drug policy even further, or so they joke in a recent promotion.
"We're planning on doing some random fan testing between now and the end of the season," Deanna Beaman, the team's vice president and general manager, said in a release. "We owe it to our players."
Beaman said testing would be conducted in and around Don McBride Stadium.
"We'll take notice if we see any weight gains," she said.
Source: http://www.nytimes.com/
Finally healthy this season, Liriano has emerged as one of the top pitchers in the Twins' organization, if not in the entire minor leagues.
While Pierzynski played just one season for the Giants before signing with the White Sox as a free agent, Nathan has saved 78 games for the Twins since the trade, and Bonser leads the Class AAA International League with 161 strikeouts. But Liriano has made a bigger impression this season and was rewarded yesterday with a call-up to Minnesota.
After being promoted to Class AAA Rochester in June, Liriano posted a 9-2 record with a 1.78 earned run average, 112 strikeouts and 24 walks over 91 innings.
Liriano, a 6-foot-2 left-hander, was third in the International League in strikeouts even though he was the only pitcher among the top 20 who had thrown fewer than 100 innings.
He was the starter for the World Team in this year's Future's Game and threw a perfect first inning. This week, he was named the International League's rookie of the year.
"This year I just wanted to stay healthy," Liriano, 21, said in a telephone interview. "Things have just got better and better. I've come a long way, but I just got to keep working and see what happens."
One of the things Liriano has been working on is maintaining a consistent motion to avoid putting additional strain on his left elbow, which gave him problems in 2003.
"There were some things he was doing wrong, and we just tried to find a way where he could finish his motion where it wouldn't be so much strain on his body," said Bobby Cuellar, the Rochester pitching coach. "He's done a lot of individual work on it, and he's done pretty well with it."
Earlier this season, the Twins balked at including Liriano in a trade for Texas second basemen Alfonso Soriano, and the deal fell through. Liriano said that despite the comparisons to Johan Santana, Minnesota's Cy Young Award winner, and all the other attention he has drawn, he needed to keep his focus.
World Cup Is Under Way
The 2005 World Cup began yesterday in the Netherlands, with the Netherlands defeating China, 13-3, in the first game.
The tournament, the largest official international event of the year, runs through Sept. 17. Amateur players and those not on the 40-man rosters of major league organizations comprise the rosters.
The United States team has a distinctly Queens flavor thanks to two players from the Mets organization and a former Mets manager. Outfielder Lastings Milledge (Class AA Binghamton) and the right-handed pitcher Brian Bannister (Class AAA Norfolk) are on the team, which will be managed by Davey Johnson, who guided the Mets to their last World Series title, in 1986.
The Greek team withdrew for financial reasons and will be replaced by the Czech Republic.
Isotopes' Slugger Is Hot
Albuquerque outfielder Mike Colangelo hit a solo home run in the bottom of the second inning of the Isotopes' 11-6 victory over Round Rock on Wednesday night, giving him home runs in six straight games. He was one shy of the Pacific Coast League (Class AAA) record, set in 1977 by Claude Westmoreland, but he failed to hit a home run on Thursday night. The Anaheim Angels selected Colangelo in the 21st round of the draft in 1997.
Steroids Joke in Richmond
The Richmond Roosters of the independent Frontier League are proud of the fact that they have never had a player test positive for steroids, and now they are going to take their drug policy even further, or so they joke in a recent promotion.
"We're planning on doing some random fan testing between now and the end of the season," Deanna Beaman, the team's vice president and general manager, said in a release. "We owe it to our players."
Beaman said testing would be conducted in and around Don McBride Stadium.
"We'll take notice if we see any weight gains," she said.
Source: http://www.nytimes.com/
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