Just watched Francisco Liriano throw batting practice this morning and saw a noticeably different pitcher.

He was allowed to throw harder today, which was tough luck for the hitters. I remember seeing a pop fly into short left field but nothing hard hit. Brendan Harris just stood in the batter’s box and didn’t even think about swinging. Everyone behind the batting cage - including manager Ron Gardenhire and pitching coach Rick Anderson - was encouraged.

“That was outstanding,” Anderson even said.

Liriano threw all his pitches but really worked on his change up. After the 10-minute session, Liriano wanted Anderson’s input on if his change up looked like his fastball. It was a normal spring training discussion between pitcher and coach and no questions on how his surgically-repaired left elbow felt.

Liriano will throw another batting practice session on Tuesday and could make his spring training debut either Thursday or Friday.

Gardenhire and Anderson hopped in a car after Liriano’s session and drove to the other side of town to meet the team as it prepared to face Boston at City of Palms Park.

This entry was posted on Sunday, March 2nd, 2008 at 11:28 am and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.