Pittsburgh Pirates: Notable Players to Never Make an All-Star Appearance

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MILWAUKEE, WI – SEPTEMBER 03: Francisco Liriano #47 of the Pittsburgh Pirates delivers a pitch in the third inning against the Milwaukee Brewers at Miller Park on September 3, 2015 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. (Photo by Jeff Haynes/Getty Images) /

Francisco Liriano

Another hero of the Pirates’ 2013-2015 playoff run, Francisco Liriano had some pretty good seasons with the Pittsburgh Pirates, but never made an All-Star Game. In 2013 Liriano was outstanding, and cemented himself as the Pirates’ ace for the season.

Though he was limited to just 161 innings, Liriano put up a strong 3.02 ERA, 2.92 FIP and 1.22 WHIP. Although Liriano wasn’t the most control-centric guy, walking 9.5% of the batters he faced, he put up a strong 24.5% strikeout rate, and gave up home runs at a 0.5 HR/9 rate. With a 50.5% ground ball rate and 19.8% soft contact rate, Liriano was great at limiting long balls. Plus, he had a 3.12 xFIP, 3.30 DRA and 3.43 SIERA. All three being very good marks.

Liriano may not have really deserved to go to an All-Star Game in 2014, as he got off to a slow start to the season, partly due to an injury. Liriano missed a chunk of June and half of July and had an ERA and FIP above 4 in the first half of the year.

But Liriano would bounce back and have a fantastic second half of 2014 as both his ERA and FIP fell below 3. All told through the 162.1 innings the lefty pitched in 2014, Liriano had a solid 3.38 ERA, 3.59 FIP and 1.30 WHIP. Though walks became a bit of an issue, seeing as he walked 11.7% of the batters he faced, Liriano increased his strikeout rate to 25.3%, his ground ball rate to 54.4%, and soft contact rate to 24.7%. Liriano still had solid ERA estimators with a 3.61 SIERA, 3.40 xFIP and 3.30 DRA.

In his final productive outing as a Pittsburgh Pirates’ starter, Francisco Liriano got off to yet another hot start to 2015. His first 114.2 innings saw the lefty have a 2.98 ERA and 3.16 FIP to go along with a 27.5% strikeout rate and 1.03 WHIP. While he did have a bit of a slump in the second half, with an ERA at exactly 4.00, he still put up a strong 3.23 FIP, 25.1% strikeout rate and 0.6 HR/9. All told in his 2015 season, Liriano still had a great 2015, totaling 186.2 innings of 3.38 ERA, 3.19 FIP, and 1.205 WHIP ball while striking out 26.5% of the batters he faced. Not only was this his highest strikeout rate as a Pirates’ pitcher, he also registered his lowest walk rate in the three seasons at 9.1%. Home runs still weren’t a big issue with a 0.72 HR/9 and 51.2% groundball rate.

Liriano made one All-Star Game in his career. That being his 2006 rookie season with the Minnesota Twins.

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