“Yo, Skip. I’m starting Thursday, right?”/”Yup, ‘Cisco, in Ft. Myers”
Posted on March 28th, 2008 – 2:03 PMBy Howard
(Updated at 4 p.m.) Does this look like the pitching line of a young left-hander who’s planning to start Thursday at the Metrodome?
5 innings, 3 hits, 1 earned run, 2 walks, 7 strikeouts.
Maybe. But the Twins have decided to bring him along slowly, which means that Liriano will get a couple of more starts in Florida (at Class A) Fort Myers and Nick Blackburn will start the season in the rotation.
LaVelle reports on his blog: “The Twins are very pleased with Francisco Liriano’s progress over his past two outings but feel he still needs a couple more starts. So they optioned him to Class A Fort Myers on Friday, which allows righthander Nick Blackburn to make the Opening Day rotation.”
He also writes: “Liriano then will join Class AAA Rochester for a start. Liriano should be able to sharpen his pitches over these outings and have the stamina to throw 100 in a game.”
Without seeing the game today, I’d been hoping this was the “Welcome Back, Francisco” outing that many were hoping for and fewer were probably expecting. For now, I’m hoping he settles into a protected role near the end of the rotation and that anyone who calls him “Franchise” contributes to the Section 220 pizza and beer fund.
Can’t wait to hear what Franch, er, Francisco tells Gardy tomorrow when the manager asks, “How you feeling, lefty?”
other people are here too
13 Responses to "“Yo, Skip. I’m starting Thursday, right?”/”Yup, ‘Cisco, in Ft. Myers”"
The Franchise is back! I’ll “contibute” some funds for beer and pizza.
Sounds encouraging, but it was the worst line-up in the majors. I can’t believe the pirates are this terrible. I’m starting to think that a salary cap must be enforced our these small market teams have to be forced to use the money they recieve from revenue sharing to pay players. So the desired result of the revenue sharing, parity, is closer to being achieved.
There’s no excuse now why he shouldn’t come north — but excuses are always found, right?
Franchisco. I like it.
If he pitches Thursday, then he has to pitch Wednesday April 9th in chilly Chicago.
He could pitch Friday, then not pitch in Chicago at all, with Twins skipping his start in the rotation and Livan could go on Thursday April 10th after the normal 4 days rest.
And much of this depends on how Baker does.
I don’t agree with Lariano heading north with the club.He pitched less than 20 innings this spring and would benefit more from 3-4 starts in A,AA and then AAA before rejoining the team.What’s the rush?His long term health and future needs to be considered.Blackburn pitched well enough this spring to earn at least a look.Keep The Franchise in Florida for a start or two,move him up to AA for a start,then AAA.We’ll be waiting for him May 1st.
Doug and others,
Check out LaVelle’s blog, which has the latest news — including Liriano being option to Ft. Myers.
I know Gardy would prefer to have Liriano or Baker on extended ST. But they’re making it difficult for him to make that decision. Fun stuff.
nevermind.
Howard,
Even the Blind Squirrel(me) finds the acorn once in a while!
How did you know the squirrel was blind?
hew and others,
One of the great moments in underground Twins history came in the mid-1980s when pitcher John Butcher, who’d been in a prolonged slump, won a game and — when queried by the media — explained his success by saying, “Even a blind squirrel finds an acorn once in a while.”
