Patrick Reusse: Elbow not behind Liriano's troubles

There was a report in the Star Tribune before the start of spring training that the Twins were exploring the possibility of trading Francisco Liriano. Joe Christensen was the reporter providing this information to the public.

Fans suggested this couldn't be true -- the Twins could not be considering a trade of the pitcher the club had used to start the first game of the playoffs in 2010. And others in the media, including a normally astute veteran columnist, accepted the reporting but suggested any trade of Liriano would mean giving up on this season.

Liriano had a tender shoulder and Scott Baker had a minor elbow problem at the start of spring training. This took care of any notion the Twins might have had of moving the lefthander to the Yankees, Texas or another club deemed to be in the market for a starter.

Once Liriano was ready to pitch, the Twins were in no hurry to show off his form to the masses. The first time he pitched was in a B squad game on a back field at the Lee County Sports Complex.

He wound up making five official starts and working 18 2/3 innings. He allowed 20 hits, nine walks and 10 earned runs. He also had 23 strikeouts.

Most spectacularly, there was the start March 23 against Baltimore. This was Liriano's semi-windup for spring training, and the Twins were hoping to get five innings from him at a minimum.

Liriano lasted three. He struck out nine. He also gave up four hits, three walks and one run. It was like watching Denzel Washington try to corral a locomotive in his latest runaway train movie.

A prominent former pitcher was asked about Liriano last week and said: "His mechanics are an absolute mess. He had bad mechanics even when he was 'dealing' in '06, but the way he's flying around now ... you have no chance to pitch effectively. I would guess that the Twins are tearing their hair out."

Manager Ron Gardenhire doesn't have much left to tear. And even if he had Mel Kiper Jr.'s 'do, Gardy wouldn't admit that Liriano gives him a hair-pulling reaction.

It is left to pitching coach Rick Anderson to engage in the constant counseling with Liriano. Late last season, Anderson was talking about Liriano's splendid changeup and the outstanding sinker -- two pitches that could result in so many easy outs, if only he would rely on them more.

Truly.

Pitching could be so easy for Liriano, if he would use the great gifts he still possesses, rather than trying to find the mid-90s fastball and unhittable slider that made him a phenomenon for three months in 2006.

It's long past time for Twins followers to stop feeling sorry for this guy. He has not been limited by the replacement of a ligament in his left elbow. The struggles that come and go -- and are now present -- are strictly self-induced with Liriano.

Or, as a baseball man said to me the other day: "He's definitely throwing to a 5 1/2-inch plate."

That is the width of the average human brain. And there are many pitchers with limited stuff that have about that much of a strike zone to work with -- 2 1/2 inches on the inside corner, 3 inches on the outside corner.

Not Liriano.

He still has enough fastball to pitch to 6-inch hunks of the plate, in and out. And if he only would build his game around that fastball ... stay back, throw strikes, it could be so easy.

Instead, the Twins are left with only hope that they soon will see the 2010 version of Liriano, rather than the 2009 version that was in evidence in Florida and out of the gate in the regular season.