A Tale of Two ‘Aces’

Today at Target Field, the man who has been labeled the Minnesota Twins #1 starting pitcher took the hill. Scott Baker pitched okay through 5 innings, then experienced a raid from the Cleveland Indians, who absconded with an additional 3 runs in the 6th. Baker’s closing box score line:

5 2/3 innings, 10 hits, 6 earned runs

Emotional! Contrast the performance of our #1 starter with this performance, Wednesday evening, from our #5 starter:

8 innings, 6 hits, 6 strikeouts, 0 earned runs

Now that #5 guy in your rotation is expected to be the slouch. The hoser! But, of course, Minnesota’s 5 man is Francisco Liriano. This man appears to be firmly setting out on the comeback trail towards the awesomeness that he provided in 2006. His slider is baffling and biting, but his fastball and changeup are more under control and being made much more use of by the young hurler.

If Liriano continues to provide these types of outings, he has a real chance to usurp Mr. Baker’s #1 billing and ace-dom. Baker’s stats have steadily improved in the past several years, but consistency has been difficult for him to capture over the course of a year. Last year was Baker’s best so far, featuring an outstanding second half. For the first part of the year, though, he was getting smacked around every 5 days. He had a particular affinity for giving up home runs. Our love for Scott has not disappeared with 1 bad start, but there would be an awful lot to like about a Liriano so electric that he pushed the Bake-man down a slot.