Pirates Francisco Liriano Throws With Ray Lewis-esque Cast

We wondered if Francisco Liriano would report to Bradenton on time.  Well, now that’s out of the way.  How does he look?

If you check out the article up on Bradenton.com today, Timothy WolfRUM has the first pic I have seen of the Pirates new left hander.

He looks pretty damn good.  Sure it’s been a long winter, but heh, this is promising at least?  Wonder if that guy can stand beside him on the mound come April?

Francisco Liriano pic is property of Timothy Rumwolf Bradenton.com

Lefty starter Liriano is the biggest concern we have at Spring Training this week.

The stories about Liriano have been endless over the last few months. We know that Frankie can be an upgrade over Kevin Correia, but when will the big lefty be ready to go? The first week of camp was something we were concerned about, but this is a good sign.

The Liriano contract with the Bucs offers the team protection should the robotic looking right arm you see in the picture make him unavailable to pitch.  Also, the deal protects Liriano if he can pitch through the broken right humerous.  Additionally, Liriano can make $3.75 million in 2013 based on the amount of time he isn’t on the DL due to the right arm injury.

With all of Liriano’s incentives based on time spent on the active roster, this might be the best picture Pirates fans could hope to see.

It looks like Frankie wants to make some cash.