Liriano regains slider

MINNEAPOLIS – A broad smile creased Francisco Liriano’s face as he spoke about his winter in the Dominican Republic, where he reunited with a long lost friend.

In his first three seasons after Tommy John surgery, the Minnesota Twins left-hander lost touch with his slider, once one of the most feared and unhittable pitches in the big leagues.

In his fourth offseason since the procedure, Liriano was finally able to rear back and let it fly. For the first time in a long time, the bite was in the slider and not in his elbow.

While pitching in winter ball in his native Dominican this offseason, Liriano started to feel like the All-Star power pitcher he was in 2006. He went 3-1 with a 0.49 ERA in seven postseason appearances for Leones del Escogido, including a one-hit, 10-strikeout, five-inning masterpiece in the championship game.

“That’s what I thought. This is me,” Liriano said at TwinsFest in January. “This is how I know how to pitch.”

As the Twins’ pitchers and catchers report for spring training in Fort Myers, Fla., the team and Liriano hope his winter ball performance was a sign of things to come.

“You just have to wait and see how he carries it up to here,” manager Ron Gardenhire said. “He could be one of those ace in the holes if he can come back and bounce back, keep his arm up and the ball down.”

After going 12-3 with a 2.16 ERA in 2006, Liriano developed arm problems and missed all of 2007. He went 6-4 with a 3.91 ERA in 2008, but he didn’t have the same juice in his fastball and break in his slider.

Last year was even worse. Liriano went 5-13 with a 5.80 ERA.

So Liriano went back home to the Dominican and tried to relax. He worked out, but tried to pace himself to avoid burnout. It worked.

“He killed everybody,” said Twins second baseman Alexi Casilla, whose Dominican team lost to Liriano’s in the league championship.