We can argue about how useful "wins" are in determining a pitcher's success. In fact, FanGraphs has a very good piece about stats, new vs. old, etc.
But regardless fo what you think about wins, this is not in dispute: it's mid-May, approaching late May, and Francisco Liriano doesn't have any of them yet for Pittsburgh.
Now, some of it isn't his fault. His overall line is decent (4.25 ERA and a strikeout per inning). And the Pirates have won six of the nine games he's pitched in. He just hasn't gotten credit for any of them.
But still, some elements of Bad Frankie have also slipped back in: the inconsistency from start to start ... the walk rate that's crept up above four per nine innings ... five home runs allowed after giving up just nine all of last year.
It's a small sample size, but it's also part of a very large sample size in his career that tends to go like this: when you don't expect too much, Liriano delivers. When you start to expect it, things don't go as well.
