Francisco Liriano

[William Malone]

Francisco Liriano Casillas was born on October 26, 1983 in the Dominican Republic.

He was signed by the San Francisco Giants as an international free agent in 2000, and was traded to the Minnesota Twins for A.J. Pierzynski after the 2003 season. Minnesota also acquired Joe Nathan and Boof Bonser in that trade.

Liriano made his Major League debut as a September call-up in 2005, and had a breakout season in 2006. He went 12-3 with a 2.16 ERA that season, making 16 starts and 12 more relief appearances. The Twins skipped him in the rotation due to elbow pain in early August, but he returned after a nine day layoff. That next start proved to be his worst of the season, and Liriano wound up on the disabled list. Liriano made a brief two inning return on September 13th, before opting to have Tommy John surgery.

It was a long road back to effectiveness for Liriano. He missed the entire 2007 season while recovering from elbow surgery, and then posted an 11.32 ERA in April 2008. The Dominican southpaw was sent down to Triple-A, not seeing the Majors again until early August. Liriano briefly found his 2006 form down the stretch, going 6-0 with a 2.05 ERA in his first ten starts after getting recalled to the big leagues. But his final start of the season proved costly to the Twins playoff chances, as he was shelled by the Kansas City Royals in what was the team's 160th regular season game. Minnesota wound up losing to the Chicago White Sox in a game 163 tiebreaker.

Ron Gardenhire named Liriano his Opening Day starter in 2009. He allowed four runs over seven innings in a 6-1 loss against the Seattle Mariners. Things didn't get better from there, and Liriano found himself pitching low leverage long relief by the end of that season. His 5.80 ERA that season would wind up being a career worst.

2010 was the first time Liriano was able to put a full season of effective pitching together. He went 14-10 with a 3.62 ERA, earning Cy Young votes for the first time in his career. Liriano also won American League Comeback Player of the Year.

Liriano recorded a 9.13 ERA across five starts in April 2011, then threw a no-hitter against the White Sox on May 3rd. It was the fifth no-hitter in Twins history, and seventh in Twins/Senators history. Things stabilized a bit after his rocky April, pitching to a 3.90 ERA in 19 starts between the beginning of May and the end of August. A shoulder strain limited him to just two relief appearances in September.

2012 proved to be the final season for Liriano with the Twins. He had a 5.31 ERA over 17 starts, getting sent to the White Sox for Eduardo Escobar and Pedro Hernandez at the deadline.

Liriano signed with the Pittsburgh Pirates in free agency that winter, and proceeded to win his second Comeback Player of the Year award while finishing ninth in NL Cy Young voting. He tossed seven innings of one run ball in the 2013 NL Wild Card game, helping Pittsburgh defeat the Cincinnati Reds. Liriano would later become the first pitcher to win the Wild Card Game in both leagues while with the Toronto Blue Jays in 2016, although that win came in a relief role. He won a World Series as a member of the Houston Astros in 2017, pitching 2.1 innings out of the bullpen during the postseason that year.

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