Quick and simple. That was the deal at the Metrodome on Saturday afternoon. Nick Blackburn doesn’t come close to being overpowering. Instead, he shows command of all his pitches, changes speeds and makes opponents earn their way on base. The radar gun rarely goes above 90, but in his first four starts this season, 68 percent of his pitches have either been strikes or put into play. Only Scott Baker (73 percent) is better among the starters.

In his two starts, Francisco Liriano is at 55 percent. (Senior Smoke Free is at 62 percent and Oof is at 66 percent so far.)

In 2006, when Liriano made his dramatic debut and then hurt his arm, his strike percentage was …

… 67 percent.

In other words, I wouldn’t be wasting time expecting to see Liriano throw the mid-90s fastball and the 91 mph slider that made him such a beast two seasons ago. Instead, judge him by the command of his pitches. If he can take better command of a biting slider and a moving fastball, while working in the change-ups he threw Friday night that totally kept some of the Cleveland batters off balance, Liriano should return to being an important and vital member of the rotation. In the longer run, I’d bet on a bit more velocity, but that’s not as important as being able to throw any pitch in any situation.

As for Blackburn, watching him retain composure when Cleveland put runners on base made me feel like I was watching a 36-year-old veteran rather than a 26-year-old rookie. That’s worth the price of admission.

other people are here too

This entry was posted on Sunday, April 20th, 2008 at 12:09 am and is filed under From the Dome. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.