Liriano could replace Slowey on Sunday
Posted on April 7th, 2008 – 7:05 PMBy Joe Christensen
CHICAGO — Twins pitcher Kevin Slowey felt some stiffness in his strained right biceps today, when he played catch for the first time since leaving last Thursday’s start with the injury.
Slowey, who noted the improvement he’s made, will try playing catch again Wednesday in hopes of having a bullpen session Thursday. If he feels any lingering effects in the biceps, he will not have the bullpen session Thursday, and the Twins will be looking for a new starter Sunday.
Francisco Liriano would be on regular rest Sunday after pitching for Class AAA Rochester on Tuesday in Norfolk, Va.
“The one thing we know is Frankie is right on line for [Sunday],” Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said. “He’s right on line with Slowey, if we choose to go that way.”
44 Responses to "Liriano could replace Slowey on Sunday"
first
i dont mind him comming in at all.. we need to get a big bat in the lineup though cause our pitchers are probably getting mad that they arnt winning 3-2 ball games
A week ago Saturday Liriano was still huffing a bit. He’s kinda fat this year.
I’ve never subscribed to the notion that weight or size has a bearing on apitchers ability. Sid Fernandez, Rik Reuschel come to mind and they were a good 30 lbs overweight at least and were pretty damn successful.
If Frankie does what C.C. Sabathia did at 24, no one will be talking about his weight.
JDW
Rick Reuschel was a junk ball pitcher from what I remember… but anyone nicknamed the BEACHED WHALE is definitely proof that he was not Buff.
As for Sid Fernandez. He and Kent Hrbek, and Cecil Fielder are examples of ball players that did eat themselves out of the Major Leagues.
Sid was 30lbs overweight when he was young. By the end of his career with Baltimore he was more like 90lbs overweight, and was ineffective to say the least. I know he was one of my favorite players when I was a kid, until he became so fat that he couldn’t go. Also Sid Fernandez was one of the very first 7 inning pitchers. Go through his lifetime stats, and compare his games to Gooden, Darling, Ojeda, Cone, and all the other pitchers he ptiched with in New York, and you will see he had less innings per start than all the other 1-4 style starters in his era.
Maybe we need a rule in Baseball that if you are on rehab for you to get paid, you have to be following a team designed rehab in the states?
Liriano minus a 95+ fastball, and a 90+ slider, and a 79-Change up is Carlos Silva with a pension to give up homeruns. Let him get healthy before he comes up here and loses his Franchise status. Bring up Humber, or Mulvey, or one of those guys.
I don’t care what Liriano weighs, as long as he can control his body mechanics and not get winded.
He’s got to be a little frazzled, having been through those ups and downs the last year and a half.
A starting pitcher has to feel calm and in control. No hurry to bring him up until he feels that way.
And how could he? He’s still putting his program together. And the guy even gets bad luck with the rain down in “A” ball Thursday.
i really want to see them sign bonds..
Twins minor league teams are a combined 4-13. Rough start for the whole organization.
reality,
If you really THINK they will sign Bonds, you have misnamed yourself.
romer,
i didnt say they WILL sign bonds. I siad i HOPE they sign bonds, there is a difference….
but they wont….
reality,
After further review, you have done an EXCELLENT job naming yourself.
Bobby Jencks, CC Sabathia, Boomer Wells, Denny McLain and Early Wynn are other uniform stuffers who were/are effective pitchers.
Hmm. What happened to he gained muscle mass is a great thing?
What about the #’s Torii is putting up now that the homecoming is over. Geez the guy is on fire
“Liriano minus a 95+ fastball, and a 90+ slider, and a 79-Change up is Carlos Silva with a pension to give up homeruns. Let him get healthy before he comes up here and loses his Franchise status. Bring up Humber, or Mulvey, or one of those guys.”
BC - I couldn’t disagree with you more on this. He is healthy, the only obstacle he has left to overcome is cutting loose, and I have seen and read a lot about how he’s finally doing that, was in his last Spring Training start and in his game at Ft. Myers.
He’s still got a plus fastball, not 95+ again quite yet, but I’ve read he’s been consistently throwing 91-94, its very close. His changeup is still devastating, as evidenced by the amount of K’s he has still been able to pile up while he works on getting that slider working. He also throws a power sinker, which is a very effective pitch. Look at the stats in spring training, Liriano still was K-ing more people than anyone else in the Twins rotation and showed in his last 2 starts he’d be ready when called upon. In those games, if you remember, he pitched 9 innings, gave up 3 hits, 1 run, and struck out 12. He’s ready, and they’re not rushing him, I think they’ve been holding him back.
Have you guys even seen Liriano? You are acting like he looks like the Goodyear Blimp. Overweight? I don’t think so. When he was first called up he was actually a little underweight. If anything he might need to lose 5-10 pounds. He’s not 30 lbs. overweight. Give it a rest.
jama - you’re right.
and if you read the article about Liriano before spring training started, you’d know that part of his workout and rehab regiment was to make himself stronger so his body would hold up better, those 20 lbs (thats how much he’s put on) are due to that.
and if you’ve seen him, he definitely looks bigger than he did in ‘06, but he’s nowhere near overweight, I think he looks really good to be honest.
What about the #’s Torii is putting up now that the homecoming is over.
As long as those numbers are against teams not named the Minnesota Twins I realy don’t care.
Because right now he’s helping LAA take down Cleveland.
How could Matt Guerrier get a hold and a loss in the same game as he did in last night’s (4/7) game vs Chicago?
imo the pitching is fine probably as good as last yr. what we miss to be considered a contender is some punch from big boppers. with torii’s 30 hr’s gone and morneau still struggling it takes to many singles strung together for a big inning. yesterday was a prime exmaple when the sox went ahead. they have 5-6 guys that can hit a hr on a consistent basis and we have one and he has been very cold expect 2 games. we need a big bat! it doesn’t look like monroe will be it and i don’t know where it will come from.
There is a big difference between 10#’s weight gain and a 30# weight gain.
But, anyone who thinks a player who has gained 30#’s is the same player as he was at a normal weight has not been that heavy.
Some weight gain is normal with more maturity.
Also, muscle mass may be a good thing for offensive linemen, less so for pitchers.
How could Matt Guerrier get a hold and a loss in the same game as he did in last night’s (4/7) game vs Chicago?
The Hold is one of those “Agent” stats (but that’s just my opinion) for reasons such as those.
I don’t remember how it all went down…but could it be that Guerrier’s runner was scored on a hit given up by Neshek?
I can’t remember how it wend down, but I think Guerrier got a hold because he didn’t give up a run or the lead in the inning he came in, and got the loss because the next inning he gave up the run…
Hold Definition: A pitcher is credited with a hold if he leaves the game with a Save situation intact (early definition required the pitcher to record at least 1 out).
Guerrier left the game with the Twin’s up 3-2 (runners on 1st and 3rd). Neshek allowed the inherited runners score (credited to Guerrier).
That is how he got both a Hold and the Loss.
liriano is like 225 pounds for a 6′5 body.. i dont think thats overweight
lion - word.
I thought he was a little skinny in ‘06, so I think its good for him.
what the hell is this the losers tv show about liriano this is more stupid than the constant punto bashing
keep,
he was.. but is doing better now… 225 pounds in a 6′5 frame is pretty close to the right weight…
lion - I’ll quote myself from what I said earlier because I agree with you…
“and if you read the article about Liriano before spring training started, you’d know that part of his workout and rehab regiment was to make himself stronger so his body would hold up better, those 20 lbs (thats how much he’s put on) are due to that.
and if you’ve seen him, he definitely looks bigger than he did in ‘06, but he’s nowhere near overweight, I think he looks really good to be honest”
Here is something I don’t quite understand with the Slowey situation:
a. he got injured on 4/3. He is not scheduled to make another start potentially until 4/15 (the one that if Slowey is not ready, Liriano will start)
b. the team is not hitting
c. Why waste a roster spot on Slowey by not putting him on the 15-day DL and recalling a bat (e.g. Ruiz from Rochester) who can go down when Liriano comes up.
Any thoughts?
Interesting point thrylos. I think the Twins don’t want to use up options on guys they don’t plan on having up for an extended period of time.
jama, Ruiz never played in the bigs, he is 29 all of his options are intact…
Is it true that Boof tried smoking astro turf?
can we trade up and get Ron Coomer back for Kubel. I want to see what interesting thing he would eat next.
thrylos,
It doesn’t matter if he ever played in the bigs, all that matters is how many years he has been on the 40-man roster.
Check out coomer’s stats he actually as scary as this may sound would make an excellent DH. Compare his stats to Kubels. He has more power and a better avg as well as a better personality.
And the crowd chants COOMER!! COOMER!! COOMER!!
Sweetone,
He has never been on a 40 man-roster either.
jimmy bee,
That laughter you hear after you post one of your jokes is ALL in your head.
There is total silence at this end.
thrylos,
This is why they didn’t put Slowey on the DL and call up a Bat.
1. If they put Slowey on DL he wouldn’t be available until 4/19 which means that they have to call up a pitcher for 2 starts minimum (4/13 & 4/18). Whereas keeping Slowey on the Roster with the day off it is possible for him not to miss any starts.
2. Ruiz or Knott would have to be added to the 40-man roster. And would most likely ride the pine most of the time. No sense in doing that for someone who is only going to be up here for a week when they can play daily in Rochester.
Now if the injured player was an everyday player or relief pitcher and he was going to be unavailable for more than 5 days, they would probably put him on the DL and bring up a replacement.
SweetOne,
Add to your reasons that no one currently on the Twins NEEDS time off at this time. Gardy is already benching players that need at bats to get his bench players some at bats.
Liriano doesn’t look anywhere near 6′5″ to me. He looked in good shape this spring.
