by: Justin Dunio

Francisco Liriano reportedly has a labrum tear in his overworked right shoulder from attempting to become an ambidextrous pitcher. Desperate to return to relevance, Liriano was willing to try anything. Liriano was among the league leaders in ERA in 3 of his first 4 seasons and was one of the top young pitchers in the league. However, injuries have hampered Liriano and his stats have been unimpressive to say the least the last few years.

We caught up with Liriano’s agent, Greg Genske, to talk about his recent injury to his non-pitching arm. “Francisco was really excited about coming to Pittsburgh. He felt a move to the National League with an up-and-coming team would be the perfect opportunity to revive his career. He was prepared to do whatever it took to help his new team, so this offseason he began pitching with BOTH arms instead of JUST THE ONE.”

Liriano was inspired by Pat Venditte, a pitcher in the New York Yankees organization. Venditte became famous for being ambidextrous and throwing pitches with both arms in the same outing, although he never actually had any statistical success. When The Pierogi caught up with Liriano, he said “It’s been a few years since I’ve been dominant with my left arm. My four year old son told me that he’s a lot better throwing with his right arm, and that I should try it that way. Normally I wouldn’t listen to a four year … but I play for the Pirates now, so I’ve gotta get used to it. Turns out I overworked my right arm and tore my labrum. Damnit.”

Scouts have been keeping an eye on Liriano’s right handed abilities and say that he has a plus-plus eephus, but he has yet to throw a strike with any of his other pitches. Liriano will likely need surgery to repair his torn labrum, but insists he will make a full recovery and will focus on throwing left handed for the upcoming season.