Despite missing most of August and September due to a surgery-inducing arm injury, Francisco Liriano made a lasting impression on baseball fans. After four months of dominance with a 12-3 record and an impressive 2.16 ERA, Liriano was voted by fans TYIB's Rookie of the Year.
Liriano began the 2006 season in the Twins' bullpen, surrounded by fan anticipation. He entered the rotation in mid-May and for the first half of the year, wowed baseball with his ability to punish the strike zone (144 Ks), winning 9 of his first 10 starts and putting up a 1.92 ERA in all sixteen.
Suddenly, the Twins found themselves above .500 after being 8 games in the cellar, when Liriano picked up the starting role. He earned a rookie trip to the All-Star game in Pittsburgh, becoming a last-minute replacement for Jose Contreras and it seemed as if the Rookie of the Year candidate was all but decided.
His second half? Not so much. Francisco missed most of the last two months of the season due to unexplainable elbow pain. He attempted a comeback late in the year, and was pitching lights-out in his one and only game back before he threw out his elbow in the third inning, silencing the Metrodome.
Liriano tried to rehabilitate the injury this off season, but became impatient and frustrated in early November with how the rehab was progressing and underwent ligament-replacement surgery. He will be out until at least 2008, requiring intensive rehabilitation before he can return.
Saddest. Story. Ever.
5 comments:
Poor Frankie. I was so hoping he'd have a knock 'em dead rookie year.
A well...
It's a damn shame. Hopefully he'll be like the well-oiled machine he once was in 2008.
Yeah.. I feel bad for the guy..
I hope he has the best recovery and comes back to pitch as well as he can.
I hope so, too. What a powerhouse.
This guy was a talent that comes around only ever 20 years or so, kinda like Crosby. Sucks to see him out. Good luck.
sammy/
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