Wednesday, July 1, 2009

Droppin' an F-Bomb on Y'allz


If there's one thing I can't stand, it's inconsistency. The Twins, while sitting at 41-39 after today's win at Kansas City, would seemingly be the model of consistency if you look only at their record. After all, winning half your games means you are demonstrating an inability to sustain success. A lot of factors play into the team's ragamuffin end results, not the least of which is Francisco Liriano's glacial metamorphosis into something resembling a starting pitcher.

Of course, at age 25 and coming off Tommy John surgery, Frankie has had to relearn his arm slot, which anyone can tell you takes more than a couple tosses in the bullpen. And yet, after a horrid rollercoaster 6.60 ERA through the first two months, the F-Bomb has started to return.

In June, Liriano busted out a 3.77 ERA with 30 strikeouts in his 31 innings pitches. What's more, his BAA (batting average against) fell considerably in the month of June (.231) as compared to April/May (.296). All of this, of course, was highlighted by Francisco's tidy (97 pitches) seven-inning, six-strikeout performance this past Sunday in St. Louis. He even managed to strike out Albert Pujols once, and that's only happened 31 other times in 264 at bats this season. Good stuff.

If this is the Liriano we're going to get from here on out - the efficient, confident guy we can trust - then our Twins, as a whole, will take a turn upward.

Oh, and speaking of inconsistency, I apoligize for the ridiculous two-month hiatus on this little ol' site. If the inspiration isn't there, it's always best to put a lid on your output.

Thanks for reading!

1 comment:

Noni said...

Glad you had a break to regain your thoughts, but I'm glad to see you back here J-mizzle!

Thanks for the good insight!

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