Pop Goes Liriano

From ESPN.com:
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) -- Francisco Liriano has heard plenty about Cy Young during a spectacular rookie season.

Now that he is out for the rest of the season, another pitcher might be entering the conversation -- Tommy John.

Liriano's highly anticipated return to the Minnesota rotation came to a sudden halt because of elbow problems Wednesday and Dan Haren pitched eight shutout innings, leading the Oakland Athletics over the Twins 1-0.

"Obviously he won't be pitching again," manager Ron Gardenhire said. "Something is in there bothering and continuing to stop him. ... Obviously when he gets in game and puts a little extra torque in there, something is not right. We have to make sure we stop it and do what we have to do."

Pitching for the first time in more than a month, Liriano slumped off the mound in the third inning. Trainers and Gardenhire immediately rushed out to attend to the All-Star lefty and a hush fell over the crowd that had been so excited to see him back in action.
"The last two pitches I threw, I felt a pop and it really hurts," Liriano said.

Liriano walked slowly toward the dugout and fans gave him a standing ovation -- clearly, they were wondering whether they had seen the last of him this year.

The Twins, leading the AL wild-card race, announced later that he had pain in his left elbow.
He had an MRI exam after the game, and thoughts immediately turned to Tommy John surgery, a ligament-replacement procedure that typically keeps pitchers out for more than a year.


Yeah. So, I'm going to go ahead and stand by what I said on August 10:
If the Twins can't get Liriano's mechanics figured out while also easing him into 200+ inning totals for a season, my guess is that Liriano won't have a very long MLB career at all.