Pirates bring back Francisco Liriano on a minor-league deal
Francisco Liriano, who had the best season of his 13-year career with the Pittsburgh Pirates in 2013, returned to the team Monday.
At least, he’ll be with the Pirates at spring training in Bradenton, Fla., trying to win a spot in the starting rotation or bullpen. He signed a minor-league contract in hopes of finding the success he enjoyed for three seasons under Pirates pitching coach Ray Searage.
Liriano, 35, has been with six teams since 2005, starting 300 of his 350 games in the majors.
If he starts for the Pirates, he would add a left-handed arm to a rotation dominated by right-handers Jameson Taillon, Trevor Williams, Joe Musgrove, Chris Archer and Jordan Lyles, who was signed in the offseason. Veteran left-hander Steven Brault also will compete for a starting job when pitchers and catchers report Feb. 12 after he spent most of last season in the bullpen.
If the Pirates decide Lyles or Brault is better suited to start, Liriano could compete for work in relief.
Liriano helped the Pirates to their first of three consecutive playoff appearances in 2013 when he won a career-high 16 games in 24 decisions. He was the winning pitcher in the wild-card game against the Cincinnati Reds that season, allowing one run in seven innings.
His 3.02 ERA was second only to his 2.06 ERA in ’06 when he was a second-year pitcher for the Minnesota Twins.
He spent 3½ season with the Pirates, striking out 659 while making 107 starts and compiling a 41-36 record with a 3.67 ERA. He was 7-10 and 12-7 in the Pirates’ 2014 and ’15 playoff teams, recording an overall ERA of 3.38.
Liriano, whose 1,752 career strikeouts are fifth highest among Dominican-born pitchers in MLB history, was traded to the Toronto Blue Jays during the ’16 season, along with prospects Reese McGuire and Harold Ramirez, for pitcher Drew Hutchison, who made only six appearances for the Pirates.
Since then, Liriano has pitched for the Blue Jays, Houston Astros (where he was part of a World Series champion in 2017 ) and Detroit Tigers, with an ERA that never was better than 4.50.
With the Tigers last season, he made 26 starts but was 5-12 with a 4.58 ERA and 110 strikeouts in 133 2/3 innings. His WHIP was 1.496, fourth worst of his career.
Jerry DiPaola is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Jerry at jdipaola@tribweb.com or via Twitter @JDiPaola_Trib.
Jerry DiPaola is a TribLive reporter covering Pitt athletics since 2011. A Pittsburgh native, he joined the Trib in 1993, first as a copy editor and page designer in the sports department and later as the Pittsburgh Steelers reporter from 1994-2004. He can be reached at jdipaola@triblive.com.
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