Baker, Punto and Liriano updates
Posted on May 26th, 2008 – 6:01 PMBy Joe Christensen
Some quick off-day notes:
(*) Twins pitcher Scott Baker, who is on the disabled list with a strained right groin, pitched five pain-free innings in an extended spring training game today in Florida.
Baker allowed four hits and one earned run, with four strikeouts and no walks. Twins GM Bill Smith said Baker will be checked out Tuesday, but the reports were good, and Baker will likely pitch in another extended spring game Saturday.
(*) Smith said Nick Punto (strained left hamstring) played five innings in an extended spring game Sunday and had six at-bats. The report said Punto was healthy but rusty, Smith said.
Manager Ron Gardenhire thought it was possible Punto could be activated from the DL this week, while the team is in Kansas City, but Smith said that won’t happen.
Punto’s wife, Natalie, is due to give birth to the couple’s first child Friday. Punto will continue his rehab in Floriday, fly back to Minnesota for the birth, and the Twins will see how he progresses.
(*) Francisco Liriano gave up six runs on seven hits in 6 2/3 innings today for Class AAA Rochester. He walked one and struck out four.
I don’t think it was a step back. If you read the play-by-play from his outing, you see that he got two quick outs in the fifth inning before Charlotte loaded the bases and Brad Eldred hit a grand slam.
26 Responses to "Baker, Punto and Liriano updates"
I’m here to cut the Twins’ losses.
Howie lives to see Friday.
Liriano sucks.
When Smith says Punto was rusty does that mean 0 for 6 with 4 k’s. Hope Gardy gives Harris and extended run at short and doesn’t go back to Punto. I really don’t think we need a shortstop who would hit near the Mendoza line all year
“Liriano sucks.”
more like this…
“Liriano sucks with his new stupid arm motion. he wouldnt suck if they let him use the same arm motion in which almost got him a cy young award”
he wouldnt suck if they let him use the same arm motion which almost got him an elbow transplant.
Thanks for the update, Joe. This is the kind of stuff it’s hard to get from the box scores!
“he wouldnt suck if they let him use the same arm motion which almost got him an elbow transplant.”
Couldn’t be more true
Thanks for the updates!
why do we need to futility players? We have currently Clark, Tolbert, Casilla (to some extent), and Punto. That is three to four utilities. Punto has always brought solid Defense to the field but a wimp bat that hovered well below the Mendoza line for the most part of 2007. Tolbert quickly became a favorite utility player for me. He brought good D (as good as LNP) and a decent bat. Either make a trade with Punto one of the baits, or DFA him, or release him unconditionally.
Baker - good news to hear that. Baker is most probably going to be our ace for 2009 if he can ever stay healthy. GOOD NEWS!
Liriano - a minor setback…of course from what I hear the defense didn’t help to much. They let plays that should have been made, go by and the went as hits. At least he didnt walk a bundle!!! Still has good velocity and it doesn’t appear that he is having any trouble with stamina!
What I like most about the early part of this season is this:
1-Blackburn
2-Perkins
-Slowey, Baker, Liriano
and the miriad of options the Twins look like they will have over the next season or two for cheap starting pitching…. very few teams have that luxory. Hopefully we can get 5 of them to click at the same time… at least we have competition that should continue to put pressure on these guys to perform. The Twins are also not going to be in a position where they’ll have to sign any of the mediocre ones beyond their arb elligble years because they’ll have a glut of mediocre one’s ready to take their jobs. What will really be the telling sign is whether any of the pitchers they do have force the Twins hands to sign them beyond those arb years… That would be a good problem to have given the stock pile of arms in the organization.
MC-
Blackburn and Perkins are pitchers, and Baker seems to really have his head on straight as a pitcher as well. So I think we we are solid 2-4 in the rotation. I hope that next year Liriano is healthy and confident… even if he just becomes a solid lefty that’s a huge plus.
Boof is a joke, I think that if the AAA pitchers can get themselves going, and Guerra picks it up that by 2010 we could have the best young rotation in baseball for a long long time.
Liriano, Guerra, Baker, Perkins, Blackburn
And with Swarzack, Robertson, Mulvey, Humber, Duensing, Sosa, Pino, all chomping at the bit…
If the team is not in playoff contention this year I think they need to look at trading Livan and seeing if we can get a king’s ransome for him, or even a couple of prospects… and I think it’s time to try and trade Slowey and Booflet.
I haven’t read Liriano’s trouble as management not letting him throw the way he used to… it is that he is too scared to throw that way. If you remember last year, after the first couple MRIs of his elbow came back clear, he insisted he felt “something” in the elbow. He was throwing more or less okay off the mound, but kept telling people that there was something wrong, and ended up having TJ preventatively. Even back in spring training he repeatedly told reporters and coaches that he didn’t have a problem, but then Mauer would talk to the coaches and tell them that Liriano shook off the slider every time he gave the sign. The problem with Liriano isn’t management. It’s inside him.
No, Liriano sucks with or without the new arm motion. The problem is TJ surgery and having a major mental block. If the block can ever be broken through he could be avg or better it all depends on him getting over that little monster in the back of his mind saying “It’s going to hurt bad if you throw that slider”
Why are people getting on the Twins for changing Liriano’s delivery?
They had to! He destroyed his arm with the old way of delivery. And while the management’s goal should be to win, it shouldn’t be at the permanent cost of the player’s health.
“or release him unconditionally.”
I don’t mind suggestions to release players…as long as people realize that a player that’s released doesn’t necessarily come off the payroll.
Just to premptively curtail cries of “Cheapskate!” when the team doesn’t make any big signings following the release of Boof, Rincon, Punto, Everett, Lamb, Monroe,…who else don’t we like currently?
Video of Baker’s third inning on Monday for the curious.
Terry Ryan said Punto wasn’t ready. 4 fly outs, a strike out and he ground into a double play - yeah, he’ rusty.
Just had to throw in some info as far as Tommy John surgery and coming back from it is concerned.
Liriano has much different mechanics now than what he had in ‘06 (can see the difference in pictures at http://www.chrisoleary.com/projects/Baseball/Pitching/ThePitchingMechanic/index.html, click on Liriano before and after link) with the changes all meant to lessen the torque on his arm, good things so he doesn’t get hurt but also hurts his pitches effectiveness right now in some ways, velocity, break, etc…
But anyway, on to the Tommy John surgery, The ligament that is torn is the Ulnar Collateral Ligament on the inside of the elbow (I’m sure you all knew that, bear with me), and it is most often replaced in the Tommy John Procedure by a ligament in the Forearm (usually from the uninjured arm), which obviously is not used to the bending movements of an elbow. A big hurdle to overcome I’ve heard from a lot of guys getting the procedure is getting used to the ‘tightness’ in their elbow. If prior to the procedure you thought your elbow was say a 2 on 0-10 tightness scale, most guys would say its an 8 or 9 immediately after having the procedure, and many never say they get back down to or close to a ‘2′. Anyway, it is hard for many pitchers and others alike to ever trust the newfound tightness in their elbow, but when they do, good things can happen. You hear about some guys having the procedure who come back throwing harder than they did prior to the surgery, this is most often because the new ligament is stronger than the UCL, and the tightness can create greater ’snap’ in arm action or they trust they can let loose more.
Anyway, I think this may be Liriano’s biggest problem on the road to recovery, trusting that he can still let it fly with the tightness he feels.
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2008/baseball/mlb/05/26/gonzalez.ap/index.html
Can’t wait for that new ball outdoor ballpark
Hey jimmybee how’s it going? What did you think of Kubels Grand Slam Sunday? I know your not a big fan of his but you had to be cheering when you saw that one.
TwinsNotesGUY-Thanks,that’s the most informative post i have yet to see on this blog.
Hey Jimmy, you did read that he was hit by lightning on a beach, right?
Just wanna know why you think that a player down on the field would be as high a risk, considering how much steel is in the surrounding structure?
Maybe it would help to re-read the story to make sure you understand it prior to posting it?
To TwinsNotesGuy, To piggyback onto Geno’s earlier comment, that info was truly outstanding and most informative. Thanks for the good stuff! Maybe with all that is happening within Liriano’s life, (i.e. wife, new baby, added responsibility and the natural desire to compete) he will battle back and continue what to date has been a fine career.
BC BENECKE-I agree that we should have a heck of a starting staff in 2010 with.the guys you mentioned.By the way,are Guerra,Mulvey,Humber and that Gomez guy,the same guys involved in that terrible Johan trade.That rookie GM. Billy Smith sure got fleeced i guess.On a serious note,who do project to be the other corner outfielder opposite Young and who will be at third in 2010?
We were at the game; Liriano looked great, he dominated, other than a few unlucky breaks in the fifth. The sad thing is, right now he’s twice the pitcher Livan Hernandez is and ten times the pitcher Boof is. I guess we’ve set some almost unreal expectations of Liriano, huh?
BTW: Punto is ALWAYS rusty. Can we keep him down there until early October???
GENO, keep your eye on the ball. We’re in a pennant race here in ‘08. Are you one of those guys that has a really tough time staying in the present? I mean, when the Twins suck in April of 2010, are you going to be forecasting the 2012 line-up.
By season’s end, this will be the most exciting Twins team since ‘91. This team has buckets of talent. It’s shortcoming is how that talent is used. Nonetheless, we have tons of talent. Deal with it.
LALA72-bc is the one who is talking about 2010,not me.Believe me,at my advanced age,everything is in the present!
