For just the
fifth time in Minnesota history (sixth if you want to include Dean Chance’s
rain-shortened outing in 1967), a Twins pitcher has completed a ball game
without allowing a hit.
Not only was
this Liriano first ever complete game at the major league level, but the
no-hitter was also his first
complete game at any level. My research showed that dating back to 1960 no
pitcher had ever thrown a no-hitter in their first ever professional complete
game. Considering the amount of complete games pitchers threw pre-1990, I’d
wager that this may actually be the first instance in history of this
happening. It was a Steve
Nebraska-esque performance.
Alas, savory and
memorable as this no-hitter is, it was far from perfect. Liriano managed to be “effectively”
wild as Sox hitters missed on pitches out over the plate or swung while they
were ahead in the count. After all, Liriano put six men on with walks therefore
a bit more patience by the White Sox offense and the story of the game could
have been focused on the Twins inability to score runs once again.
Looking back
at the data, Liriano struggled to get ahead of hitters last night:
|
Category
|
Grade
|
Key Stat
|
Selected Outing(s)
|
MLB Avg.
|
Grade
|
|
Working Ahead
in Count |
D
|
1st pitch strike %
|
37%
|
58%
|
F
|
|
1 of first 2 pitches for strike %
|
77%
|
85%
|
F
|
||
|
2 of first 3 pitches for strikes %
|
41%
|
60%
|
F
|
||
|
% of 0-1 counts that become 0-2 counts
|
75%
|
48%
|
A+
|
||
|
% of 1-1 counts that become 1-2 counts
|
40%
|
54%
|
F
|
(myinsideedge.com)
More
critically, he threw his fastball for a strike just 52% of the time, well-below
the league norm of 64%. In theory, a more patient team may have made the lefty
pay for that lack of command. When it came down to it, the Chicago lineup came
to Liriano’s rescue by swinging at whatever strikes came into the zone instead
of making him prove that he could repeat it.
I would
imagine that the instruction from the Sox bench was to “wait for your pitch” or
“let him earn it” but far too frequently Chicago’s hitters instead took a hack and
put it in play at fielders, much to Liriano’s delight. Several were indeed well-struck
but plays by his outstanding defense, like Denard Span’s catch in the
left-center gap or Danny
Valencia’s grab behind the base in the seventh inning, extinguished any
hopes of the Sox starting a rally.
Reviewing the
MLB.tv footage as well as the pitch f/x data found at BrooksBaseball.net and
comparing it to his previous start against Tampa Bay, to me, there is little
indication of any visual adjustments – release point or otherwise – that may
suggest a wholesale improvement based
upon the coaching staff’s between-start tutorial. Admittedly, later in the
ball game there is some evidence of him bending a bit more and finishing lower,
helping drive the ball down in the zone, but through the first several innings
Liriano was finishing higher resulting in pitches up. Thankfully, he had plenty
of help from his aforementioned defense including three double-plays turned behind
him.
In addition
to facing an overzealous lineup, Liriano also did well pitching backwards
towards the latter half of the ballgame. After mainly using his fastball to
start hitters off in the first three innings of the game, Liriano turned to his
slider and changeup to start the count from the sixth inning onwards. In fact,
9 of the final 13 hitters started off with non-fastballs.
While we
analysts are all trying to figure out what this means in terms of his mechanics
and his future, right now is a time to relish the historical moment and
recognize the significance of a night that will live forever in Twins’ lore.
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