Liriano's 'no' is a big yes for Twins rotation

Ron Gardenhire was named Twins manager on Jan. 4, 2002. Three days later, Rick Anderson was promoted after 13 seasons in the minor leagues to be the pitching coach.

Gardenhire and Anderson have been the Twins' braintrust when it comes to pitching since then. They have done extremely well, including years in which a competent bullpen has been put together out of what seemed inadequate pieces.

This year's need for creativity arrived March 6, when closer Joe Nathan felt soreness in his right elbow facing his third batter of spring training. The injury was a torn ligament; 15 days later, it became official that Nathan was headed for Tommy John surgery.

On the day Nathan was ruled out, the manager said there was an obvious choice when it came to a pitcher with the stuff to blow away hitters in the style of Nathan at his best. Gardenhire also said the Twins would not make such a move without the pitcher being on board.

This was a reference to Francisco Liriano. There was a feeling that he could throw his favored slider as often as needed to get three outs. And, as a ninth-inning specialist, there would be no concern over Liriano losing his motion mid-game, as was the case too often in 2009.

Liriano was approached and, in his low-key manner, said, "I want to start."

The Twins didn't ask again. They left Florida on April 1 for a two-game exhibition series against St. Louis at Target Field. On the flight home, Gardenhire told veteran reliever Jon Rauch that he would be the closer.

Liriano's reluctance has proved to be a break for the Twins -- and not due to the fact that Rauch has gone 6-for-6 in save opportunities through the first 15 games.

Liriano has given a power pitcher and a lefthander to a Twins rotation that otherwise might have lacked both.

There were two great sights for the Twins this spring. One was left fielder Delmon Young showing up more than 20 pounds lighter than in 2009. The other was Liriano also arriving 15 to 20 pounds lighter.

This demonstrated a dedication to improvement that many people were unsure was part of the arsenal for either player.

Anderson was asked if his first look at a slim Liriano gave him renewed optimism for the lefty in 2010.

"Yeah, it showed me he had put last season out of his head and was ready to go," the pitching coach said. "He was sharper in everything he did, from the start of camp."

Liriano's exhibition starts were filled with strikeouts -- and several had a large number of hits.

"That's because we kept preaching to him to throw the fastball," Anderson said. "We wanted him to get used to throwing that pitch a lot. The more fastballs he threw, the more certain he was going to get about throwing it for strikes."

A year ago, Liriano would coast through three or four innings, then start rushing his delivery and lose the strike zone. In mid-August, the Twins put him on a disabled list, as a mental rather than a physical break. He finished 5-13 with a 5.80 ERA.

Liriano went to the Dominican Republic, whipped himself into prime condition and dominated in the winter league.

Gardenhire and Anderson lit up with hope when they saw the new-look Liriano in February, yet there still was that thought, post-Nathan, that one sizzling inning at a time might be the way to go.

The lefty said no thank you, and now he's 2-0 and the Twins are 3-0 in his three starts. The past two have come in Target Field, where he has 15 scoreless innings after going eight in Wednesday's 6-0 victory over Cleveland.

Anderson looked at his chart on Liriano, saw 16 changeups, 28 sliders and 58 fastballs among 102 pitches and said: "A year ago, that would've been 48 sliders, two changeups and he might not have made it through the fifth [when Cleveland loaded the bases with one out].

"Frankie started rushing a little that inning, and Joe [Mauer] went out and said, 'We're going to throw fastballs,' and he threw that sinker [to Asdrubal Cabrera] and got the double play. That was great to see. That was pitching."

Patrick Reusse can be heard noon-4 weekdays on AM-1500 KSTP. • preusse@startribune.com