CHICAGO -- This year has been one long learning experience for Francisco Liriano. That might sound funny, considering he is nearing the end of his 14th season in the Majors and has earned more service time than anyone in the Pirates’ clubhouse.

But for the first time, Liriano is going to finish a full season as a reliever. He entered Saturday’s game at Wrigley Field having made a career-high 65 appearances on the year, none of them starts.

Liriano has started 300 games in his career. He started the 2013 National League Wild Card Game, the Pirates’ most memorable game in decades. But the 35-year-old is perfectly comfortable with the idea of ending his career in the bullpen -- though he says he hasn’t reached the finish line yet.

“That’s what I would like. I would like to play a couple more years as a bullpen guy,” Liriano said. “I don’t want to start anymore. We’ll see what happens next year, but I would like to come back and be a bullpen guy.

“I would think about it. But I wanted to try something different, being in the bullpen. I want to play a little bit longer. The last couple years, I didn’t have good seasons and I didn’t throw as many innings starting. I just wanted to try something different.”

Liriano has done well in his first season as a full-time reliever. He entered Saturday with a 3.41 ERA, a 1.35 WHIP and 61 strikeouts in 66 innings. He’s held lefties to a .203/.329/.348 slash line, and the shorter outings have helped make him more effective against right-handers this year (.246/.327/.411) than last year (.270/.369/.455).

Pitching out of the bullpen was not an entirely new experience for Liriano, as he had made 50 relief appearances in his career before this season, but he was curious in Spring Training about how his body would hold up in a relief role over six months.

Starters are creatures of habit, pitching every fifth day with a bullpen session and scheduled workouts between outings. Liriano went from that to preparing as if he might pitch every day. The Pirates are careful when it comes to managing their relievers’ workloads, but Liriano wound up pitching in 18 of their first 37 games this season.

“The first month was kind of hard for me, throwing back-to-back days and being ready to pitch every day,” Liriano said. “But my body got used to it. I’m very happy with what I’ve done. I’ve been able to throw back-to-back days and other stuff.

“My body feels good. I mean, you know, it feels tired. But I’m excited that I’ve been able to pitch the whole year in the bullpen and been able to pitch every day. I’m very happy about that.”

Around the horn

• Left-hander Williams Jerez joined the Pirates at Wrigley Field on Saturday morning, less than 24 hours after being claimed off waivers from the Giants. Jerez, 27, said he was excited to join a new team and will be ready to pitch as soon as Sunday.

Manager Clint Hurdle said the Pirates are intrigued by the way Jerez throws his fastball at the top of the strike zone, along with his slider and his changeup -- a pitch they think he can use more effectively. They will give him chances to pitch during the final two weeks of the season, evaluating him as a left-handed relief option heading into the offseason.

“A left-handed option is good,” Hurdle said. “We think he’s got a chance to be more effective, especially a left-on-left option as well. We like the arm. We like the age. There’s a lot of things we like.”

• First baseman Josh Bell (left groin discomfort) was unavailable on Saturday after exiting Friday’s game in the fifth inning.

• Catcher Jacob Stallings was also sidelined Saturday due to back tightness, which he felt while running the bases on Friday.

• Center fielder Starling Marte (sprained left wrist) was likely limited to pinch-running duty on Saturday. Hurdle said Marte was still having issues gripping the bat and catching the ball.