STATE COLLEGE, Pa. — Admit it: When the Pirates signed Francisco Liriano to a minor-league deal before the season started, a wave of nostalgia washed upon you.
Perhaps the PBC brass were in their feelings as well. How else could we explain the willingness -- albeit on a minor-league deal -- to offer up a potential 25-man roster spot to a pitcher who had been fading from his prime at such a rapid rate? From 2016 though 2018, Liriano saw his strikeouts per nine innings fall from 9.28 in 2016 to 7.41 last season, while his walks per nine registered at 4.92 in each of those two campaigns.
#FilthyFrankie he was not.
And that makes what he's doing now all the more surprising. Liriano is quietly making a claim toward serving as the Pirates' second-best reliever behind that special individual by the name of Felipe Vazquez.
Don't scoff. It's true. If you don't trust me, trust the numbers:
Frankie's peripherals tell the story.Where is all of this newfound effectiveness coming from? The answer, as you probably surmised, comes chiefly -- but not entirely -- from his slider. Before we get into all that, let's re-acquaint ourselves with how the pitch looks in 2019.
Nothing seems mechanically different in Liriano's delivery. Arm slot and release point largely remain unchanged. Liriano is still "showing the back pocket" to hitters on both sides of the plate, creating enough torque from his lower half without forcing him to hurry his motion to the plate. This creates the bite, and it's a serving of bite upon which all dream sliders are built.
If mechanics were the only issue holding back Liriano over the past few years, his signing in the spring would not have been met with such quizzical reactions.
No, it is the entire ecosystem around the slider that has vaulted Liriano back into prominence. But before we get into the particulars, let's pay Frankie's slider the respect it has deserved anew in 2019.
First, a year-by-year look at the movement and usage:
In 2018, it was 33 percent usage and good enough break both vertically and horizontal, with three-fourths of his sliders carrying a pretty wide range of movement. This served Liriano well enough, as he could still locate it with enough regularity. However, its effectiveness was muted as Liriano only saw two-strike counts 24 percent of the time, leaving his best out-pitch in the holster. More on that in a moment.
Liriano was a completely different pitcher in 2018 than he is now. This is mostly seen in pitch usage -- and early count pitch usage. In 0-0, 1-0, and 0-1 counts, Liriano threw two-seam/sinkers 45.4 percent of the time, with the slider clocking at just 29.3 percent. Things are drastically different now, with the changeup actually being seen in these early counts the most at 34.8 percent.
More on that in a moment -- I swear I'm building to something here -- but first, let's see the slider in 2019:
Other than gaining a tick of velocity, the biggest change in Liriano's slider comes from a wider range of horizontal movement and a tighter range of vertical break. This allows him to be just a bit more fine with it, though not fine for the sake of pinpoint control. From 2017 through 2018, Liriano saw a whiff per swing rate of 37.3 percent, sturdy enough but nowhere near his rates that regularly stood in the mid-40s during his first Pirates tenure. Even though the slider still had some life in it, it could be tagged just as often as it was whiffed upon, with slugging percentages that were wildly inflated -- .388 over 2017-2018 -- when compared to his Pirates norms. A .197 mark in 2013 was his low point there.
It's entirely possible, and likely, Liriano's slider was an all-or-nothing proposition over his past two seasons. The big, loopy offering would either make hitters foolish or wise to sit back on it. There was no in between.
In 2019, Liriano is getting to two-strike counts at a better rate -- 33.1 percent thus far -- and doing better, smarter work to get there. I had mentioned above that his changeup was seen more often in those early counts, and now feels like a good time to talk about the pitch.
It's been, well, decidedly so-so in the early counts.
I know, not what you were expecting to read, right? But 43.5 percent of Liriano's changeups in those early proceedings have landed for balls, with as many being put in play that land for called strikes (both 13 percent). They have created whiff at 19.6 percent, but its purpose is a hidden one. On sliders immediately following a changeup, Liriano sees a 69.4 percent whiff per swing rate. That's an insane rate, one that will level out in time. However, it speaks to a new change in Liriano's philosophy.
Or, rather, an old one come to life anew.
Back in 2016 when Liriano was eventually traded to the Blue Jays, you might recall reports of Liriano pushing back against Ray Searage's suggestion he stabilize his position on the pitching rubber regardless of batter handedness. Though it is common practice for some pitchers to change their positioning between left- and right-handed hitters, the thinking at the time was centered around a stable position helping Liriano's two-seamer gain some steadiness.
And there, after the preceding 400 or so words, is the crux of the matter. As a reliever, who cares if Liriano's two-seamer isn't as effective as it was previously? He is throwing it far, far less than nearly ever before -- 26.35 percent, his lowest mark since 2012 -- and spotting the changeup more. He's even thrown in about 8 percent more in four-seam fastball usage. This allows Liriano to stay comfortable with his positioning to maximize his slider.
Against left-handed hitters, Liriano gains more movement by starting to the left of the rubber, while beginning his motion from the right side of the rubber helps him keep a tighter degree of control against righties, perfect for landing it on the back door.
It's all about trusting a pitcher's best pitch and maximizing it through delivery, mechanics and positioning instead of putting all pegs into round holes no matter their shape. It's a storyline that fits right in with the overall changes in pitching philosophy the Pirates have adopted -- albeit slowly -- with considerable effect.
And this change in philosophy has allowed the Pirates to find maximum value in a bullpen piece with minimal investment.
The extra stuff? The nostalgia, familiarity, comfort of a familiar face? That's all gravy. But there can't be gravy without something of substance underneath it. Frankie has been full of substance to date in 2019, and has looked even a bit filthy on top of it.
