Liriano was the starting pitcher for the World Team at the All-Star Futures Game in Detroit. He breezed through a perfect first inning.
In addition to a fastball that regularly reaches the mid-90s and has great life, Liriano is blessed with a big breaking curve ball and changeup. He is working on a slider.
"It's almost like he uses his fastball to set up his breaking pitches,'' current Rochester manager Rich Miller says. "He has great stamina, too. At times, his fastball is a little erratic. He’s not wild, just off the zone a little. But he’s done a good job no matter (which catcher) is calling the game. He’s been very impressive."
"He's got the best stuff I've seen," says the RedWings manager-on-hiatus Phil Roof.
When the deal for Pierzynski was cooked up, Liriano was the flea on the tail of the dog in the trade. Now the flea may be wagging the whole dog, tail and all, outshining Nathan and Bonser.
Liriano was an outfielder when he was discovered by the Giants at a tryout camp in the Dominican Republic five years ago at age 16. They saw his great arm and quickly converted him to a pitcher.
Arm strain limited the power pitcher to nine innings in 2003, but he bounced back last year to go 9-9 with a 3.79 ERA between Class A Fort Myers and AA New Britain. It continues to be the nick in his armor at the moment, as the Twins worry about his durability a bit. While he has great maturity and focus, he's a converted outfielder. His fastball is strong but can drift off target a bit as he's still refining it.
Still, he has the tools that landed him in Rochester by this year. We think he'll see some bullpen time with the Twins for exposure. Sources tell us the Twins are grooming him as a starter. To that end we think he's got a good shot at Spring Training in 2006 to make his case. If he can't, we think that they'll send him back to Rochester to give him more exposure to the starter's roll rather than put him in the bullpen in Minnesota.
- Jim Mandelaro contributed to this ranking.
