DUNEDIN, Fla. -- Spring Training numbers often have to be taken with a grain of salt, but even so, it's almost impossible to ignore what Francisco Liriano has accomplished over the past several weeks.
Liriano has been overpowering and borderline dominant in a spring that has seen him pick up 25 strikeouts over 14 1/3 innings. This isn't a rookie with a questionable track record. This is a proven big league arm that has enjoyed plenty of success in the past but looks better than ever right now.
That trend continued on Sunday afternoon, when Liriano limited the Orioles to one run on a pair of hits over 4 2/3 innings during the Blue Jays' 2-1 loss. Liriano walked two and struck out seven, and he stated after the outing that this is probably the best he has felt at this time of the year.
"I think it's a little bit better mechanics-wise," Liriano said of his spring compared to previous years. "Release point, everything is working better than the last couple of years. I think this is the best Spring Training, physically and mechanically, that I've felt."
Liriano could very well become the X-Factor on this year's Blue Jays roster. Toronto's biggest strength last season was its rotation, and that's expected to be the case again in 2017, but there are some critics who believe that picking up where they left off will be easier said than done. J.A. Happ had a career season, Aaron Sanchez posted an American League-leading 3.00 ERA and Opening Day starter Marco Estrada had yet another successful campaign.
Will everything break the right way for the Blue Jays' rotation in 2017? Probably not, but the presence of Liriano gives the organization confidence that if there is a slight dip from someone else, the veteran lefty will be able to make up the difference. Essentially, the Blue Jays will be getting a full year out of Liriano instead of R.A. Dickey, and that alone is cause for optimism.
"He has been tremendous," Blue Jays manager John Gibbons said. "Really, from Day 1 that he got here last year, [Liriano] has done a great job for us. The word out in Pittsburgh, his command deserted him a little bit, but we didn't see any of that. That's his style of pitching. He will go through stretches when that might happen, but he can be as dominant as anybody we have, or anybody in baseball, when he's on."
Even when Liriano joined the Blue Jays prior to last year's non-waiver Trade Deadline with a 5.46 ERA, there was never any debate about his stuff. The velocity and movement were still there, but his command went missing and led to what at the time was a career high 5.5 walks per nine innings. That number dropped to 2.9 in the second half, and so far this spring, he has walked just four over 14 1/3 innings.
There were some signs of those command issues during the first inning of Sunday's game vs. Baltimore, but unlike previous years, Liriano was able to make a quick adjustment. Liriano knew he was rushing his delivery, so he made a quick change and never looked back.
"I was rushing in the first inning with a couple of walks," Liriano said. "That's one of the things I'm trying to eliminate this year, throw less walks, and get deep into games. I was rushing sometimes and missing my spots, too. ... I tried to just calm down, execute pitches, hit my spot, try not to do too much or overthrow."