A couple of people disagreed with my contention that Francisco Liriano may well start the season in Rochester or the bullpen. I hope they’re right and I’m wrong, but here’s what led to my caution:

*This isn’t Joe Mays. Liriano was 3rd in Rookie of the Year voting in 2006 and sizzled to a 12-3 record in 16 starts that seem like they were years ago instead of the season before last. If he shows anything less than full readiness, I expect the Twins to bring him along very, very slowly under conditions where every move isn’t open to everyone’s scrutiny. He could stay behind in Florida or work with the Cliburn brothers in Rochester.

*The benefit of any management doubt won’t go to Liriano, if only because he wasn’t forthcoming about the pain he was feeling in 2006, finally ‘fessing up after his two-inning finale on a weekday afternoon against Oakland. I don’t blame Liriano for thinking he could pitch through that pain, but neither would I fault the Twins for erring on the side of skepticism.

*Missing the first week of camp puts Liriano that much further behind schedule and behind the rest of the staff. It may not seem like a huge deal, but spring training has become a carefully scripted exercise — and missing several chances to throw during the first week puts a guy who hasn’t thrown under game conditions for 17 months at that much more of a disadvantage.

*There’s no shortage of candidates for the five spots in the rotation and I have to think the prospect of the Twins’ ace of the near future waiting for someone to falter would be pretty good incentive for the chosen ones to stay sharp. Having Liriano nipping at your heels is a bit more motivating than, say, knowing that Zach Day may be in line to take your spot.

What I’m thinking is the kind of drama that makes spring training worth the time and effort to follow. In other sports, with the possible exception of pro football, the preseason feels like a below-the-radar waste of time. Trying to figure out what’s going to happen with Liriano, almost six weeks before the first real pitch of the season is thrown, is one of the things that makes baseball the best of sports.

Yes, even better than curling.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, February 20th, 2008 at 12:32 am and is filed under Thoughts. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.