Pittsburgh Pirates News: Former Pitcher Announces Retirement

Francisco Liriano was a key figure in the Pittsburgh Pirates making the postseason in three consecutive seasons from 2013-2015. Monday afternoon, he announced his retirement from the game of baseball.

Few players played a bigger role in the Pittsburgh Pirates ending their streak of 20 consecutive seasons with a losing record and without a postseason berth than Francisco Liriano. Liriano signed with the Pirates prior to the 2013 season and went on to put together three strong seasons in Pittsburgh.

During these three seasons (2013-2015) the Pittsburgh Pirates won 280 games and earned a postseason berth in each of the seasons. While the team also had Gerrit Cole during this stretch, and A.J. Burnett in 2013 and 2015, Liriano was arguably the ace of the pitching staff during this stretch.

Monday afternoon, Liriano announced his intentions to retire from the game of baseball. This came after pitching 1813.2 innings in 419 games (300 starts) across 14 MLB seasons. Liriano will finish his career with a 4.15 ERA and a 3.88 FIP.

For what Liriano did during these three seasons he will forever own a spot in the hearts of many Pirate fans. Dating back to 1992 the Pittsburgh Pirates have won just three playoff games, Liriano was the starting pitcher in two of them, and they were games the Pirates won in large part due to Liriano setting the tone on the mound.

During the Pirates run of three consecutive postseason berths Liriano made 86 starts for the club, pitching 510 innings. He was one of the best left-handed pitchers in baseball during this stretch. He posted a 3.26 ERA, 3.23 FIP, struck out 25.5% of batters faced, and allowed home runs at just a 0.65 HR/9 rate. He limited opposing batters to a .220 batting average and he walked 10.0% of batters faced, which is a strong number for Liriano when compared to the rest of his career.

After struggling through the first four months of the 2016 season, Liriano was traded to the Toronto Blue Jays. He returned to the Pirates as a reliever in 2019 posting a 3.47 ERA, 4.53 FIP, 11.6% walk rate, and a 20.9% strikeout rate in 70 innings pitched. 2019 proved ot be the final MLB season of Liriano’s career.

Of the 14 seasons Liriano spent pitching in the Majors, four and a half of them were spent with the Pittsburgh Pirates. This included one of the best three year stretches in franchise history, as well as some of the best moments in franchise history. Especially recent history. All of us here at Rum Bunter wish Liriano a happy and healthy retirement with his family. #FilthyFrankyForever