Babes Love Starting Pitchers

Notes on Minnesota Twins' Starting Pitching

Brad Radke won't be starting this Saturday as expected, and there's no date set for his return to the Twins' starting rotation.

The hopes were that Brad would be alright to start in New York after getting a few extra days rest after receiving a cortisone shot Saturday in his right shoulder. But on Wednesday, he tried to play catch and after just a few tosses, had to call it quits due to the pain.

Radke has been playing with an enormous amount of pain in his shoulder due to a torn labrum for a few weeks now. He has said that when not pitching, he doesn't even eat or shampoo his hair with his right arm. The fact that he has been playing at all like this surprises the hell out of me. You or I would be calling into work and crying like babies.

Here's to hoping that all Brad needs is a few more days of rest to help Minnesota in the playoff race. I'm assuming Scott Baker will get the call up for now? Baker is 5-4 with a 2.67 ERA in 12 starts with the Rochester Red Wings this season, striking out 68 batters.

On a lighter note, Francisco Liriano threw his first bullpen session in tennies on Wednesday afternoon, and pitching coach Rick Anderson had nothing but good news to follow. He threw 40 pitches, fastballs and changeups, at about 80% speed. When you think about it, Liriano's 80% is some pitchers' 100%. He reported feeling absolutely no pain.

Thursday, Francisco is expected to throw another tennis shoe bullpen session, and if he can get through the night without any pain or discomfort, his return will become more and more likely. This time he is expected to throw a few sliders, a pitch that puts more pressure on the elbow. Even though that filthy slider has been Liriano's bread and butter, he admits to have possibly overused it a bit. After this next test, the last step to coming back out on the real mound would be to wear spikes and pitch to hitters.

I think whether Francisco is 100% or not, he will be back by atleast mid-September. To quote Torii Hunter, "He's a professional. He's a fighter. If he wants to pitch, he's going to pitch. We're all playing with a little discomfort - I've been playing with a broken ankle for months now, but I'm dedicated and I want to help my team. [Liriano] is the same way. He wants to be out there every opppotunity and give it all he's got."

The Twins desperately need the arms of Matt Garza, Boof Bonser and Carlos Silva to produce these days, if they plan on any sort of play off contention. These three are going to make or break post season opportunity. With Boof and Matt both improving in their recent starts, it is up to Carlos to get that breaking ball under control and dominate hitters like he has in the past for the club.