PLAYER TO WATCH
Francisco Liriano, LHP, Minnesota Twins
A year ago, Liriano was a disastrous 5-13 and had most of baseball wondering if he ever would come all the way back after Tommy John surgery wiped away his 2007 season. But the 6-foot-2 left-hander has regained his dominance, closing April with a 23-inning scoreless streak and ending the month with a microscopic 0.93 ERA. Liriano, who burst onto the scene in 2006 as Minnesota’s successor to Johan Santana, gives the Twins their own a flamethrower to combat Justin Verlander, Zack Greinke and Fausto Carmona in the AL Central. Minnesota sorely lacked that element last season, when it won the division despite allowing the third-most hits in the American League.
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STORYLINES
1. Red-hot Robinson » Yankees second baseman Robinson Cano is a notoriously slow starter — by which we mean his .280 career batting average in April and May is 29 points below his lifetime mark. But Cano, who slumped badly in 2008 before rebounding last season, just finished the best April of his career, ending the month as the leading hitter in the American League. Industry experts have pointed to Cano as a future batting champion (though he’s a streaky hitter and plays in the same league as Joe Mauer and Ichiro, making that task difficult). Still, hitting fifth in a loaded New York lineup means Cano — who rarely strikes out and almost never walks — will see plenty of pitches to hit. His power numbers spiked last season with career highs in home runs (25), total bases (331) runs (103) and doubles (48). Cano torched the Orioles last week, going 8-for-13 with three home runs.
2. Second guessing » Guess we shouldn’t have buried the New York Mets so quickly. Gotham’s “other” baseball team started off 3-7 and looked like a decent bet to sink below the Nationals in the National League East — especially after last year’s disastrous season and its recent September collapses. Not so fast, though. Suddenly it looks like Johan Santana’s elbow is healthy and Mike Pelfrey has made the leap long expected of him as a 6-foot-7 right-hander. Even 23-year-old John Niese is off to a nice start. The addition of stud first-base prospect Ike Davis has energized the often cranky Mets fanbase, too. Get David Wright and Jason Bay going at the same time and New York might make a run at an N.L. East title yet.
SERIES TO WATCH
Cardinals at Phillies, May 3-6
St. Louis ended April with the best team ERA in baseball. Philadelphia has Roy Halladay. But pitchers beware when the Cardinals and Phillies get together for a mid-week series at the Citizens Bank bandbox. These teams ranked first and sixth, respectively, in the Senior Circuit last season in home runs, with Albert Pujols, Ryan Howard, Jayson Werth and Raul Ibanez all finishing in the National League’s top 10. Throw slugging Matt Holliday into the mix and this might turn into a four-day fireworks show.
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