After 14 seasons, Francisco Liriano hangs up spikes

Liriano pitched his way to an All-Star selection in 2006, his first full season, and he was a mainstay of the Twins’ rotation for parts of seven season before being dealt to the White Sox at the Trade Deadline in ‘12 with free agency looming. He chose to sign with the Pirates, where he enjoyed the most successful years of his career.

In his first four seasons for the Bucs, Liriano was exclusively a starter, pitching under a 3.50 ERA in each season of Pittsburgh’s postseason-bound campaigns from 2013-15. He started the Pirates’ first playoff series since 1992 and secured the first postseason series win since the ‘79 World Series.

However, after a couple of half-seasons in Toronto between 2016-17, Liriano ended the ‘17 campaign with his first World Series ring as a reliever for the Astros. Following a stop in Detroit in ‘18, the reliable starter for the Pirates’ best teams of the 2000s returned to Pittsburgh in ‘19 to close out his MLB tenure as a reliever.

For his career, Liriano had a 4.15 ERA in 419 games (300 starts) with 1,815 strikeouts in 1,813 2/3 innings pitched for six teams.