How one injury changes a career

In 2006 he was having a Cy Young type season. He was 22 years old and certainly would have been a pitcher I would have watched very closely. In fact at one time his Rookie Card (RC) was so hot it was hard to buy one for less than $20. Then came the fateful day when Francisco Liriano blew out his arm, and to this day he has still not recovered. When Liriano went down he was 12-3 on the season with an ERA of 2.16. He was the most dominant pitcher along with Johan Santana.

He missed all of the 2007 season as he recovered and strengthened his arm following surgery. Last year he came back and started 14 games, posting a record of 6-4 with a 3.91 ERA. In 2006 before the injury Liriano had 144 K's in just 121 innings. In 2008 he struck out just 67 in 74 innings and this year his numbers continue to decline.

In 09' Liriano has started 21 games, and in those starts he has won just 4 games. Sadly he has lost 11. On top of that his ERA is 5.63, one of the worst ERA's amongst starters. He has struck out 106 in 118 innings, which shows he is no longer the power pitcher he was. Yet he is just 25 years old.

I can only imagine how frustrated he must be. To go from a pitcher who may have won the Cy Young before he was injured, to being the pitcher who may lose the most games this season has to be difficult to deal with. In four of his last six starts he has barely made it out of the 5th inning.

Others have suffered injuries and recovered, I hope for Liriano's sake he can be one of those success stories. Another player I hope can turn things around is Khalil Greene. Khalil Greene has all the potential and skill needed to be a great short stop and yet he deals with an anxiety disorder. I am a big fan of Greene and want to see him succeed. Talk about a guy that must be frustrated with life and baseball.

I want to keep cheering for the underdog, because I want them to be successful. I am also rooting for Rocco Baldelli and Zach Greinke and Dustin McGowan and Shaun Marcum just to name a few.

One more quick thought, congrats to Jim Thome who hit 2 more HR last night. The 38 year old has now hit 20+ HR every year since 1994, except for 2005 when he was injured. He has now hit 561 on his career, I do believe that Mr. Thome has a shot at 600. Gotta love it!!