Liriano cements his place in Blue Jays' rotation with dominant spring

Francisco Liriano joined the Toronto Blue Jays as something of an afterthought at last season's MLB trade deadline, but he's since made the team take notice with the 2017 campaign looming.

While his career with the Pittsburgh Pirates had been largely successful, he scuffled through 21 starts, posting the worst WHIP of his career (1.619) due in large part to his diminished command and walking 5.5 batters per nine innings.

Things have changed. Liriano has been sharp through three spring training outings, stretching out a bit more with each appearance.

He has a 1.86 ERA, and Blue Jays manager John Gibbons sees further success on the horizon, according to Joey Johnston of MLB.com.

"I can't say enough good things about him," Gibbons said. "From the time he got here, he has done a heck of a job out there. I think he's going to have a big, big year, I really do. He's capable of that. Shoot, he has been dynamite this spring."

In his first two spring starts, Liriano allowed only two hits over five innings, with zero earned runs and only a single walk - the bane of his 2016. Even though he finally allowed an earned run on Monday - two of them - he went 4 2/3 innings and struck out a whopping 10 Minnesota Twins. This isn't an entirely new development.

After arriving in Toronto, Liriano became a different pitcher. He allowed fewer hits, walks, and home runs per appearance. Over 49 1/3 innings with the Blue Jays, he had a 2.92 ERA and 52 strike outs, while walking only 16 batters.

Reuniting with catcher Russell Martin may have played a part. Martin caught Liriano extensively between 2013 and 2014 with the Pirates, two of Liriano's most effective seasons. He went 28-18 with a 3.20 ERA. Walks were still an issue, but he limited the damage otherwise.

"From what I've seen this spring, his command is really, really good," Gibbons said. "He can get in those ruts where he loses it a little bit. That might have (hurt him) in Pittsburgh."

With the addition of Liriano, the Blue Jays' rotation is arguably better on paper than it was a year ago as he essentially takes the place of knuckleballer R.A. Dickey.

Starting pitching was void of injury and everything fell into place as J.A. Happ and Marco Estrada pitched well above expectations. Aaron Sanchez posted a Cy Young-caliber line, and Marcus Stroman totaled 204 innings despite struggling at times.

While added adversity should probably be anticipated, Liriano's sustained return to form has to be a relief. If anything goes wrong, the Blue Jays will need Liriano to be like his spring self, and not like the uncontrollable arm from the first half of 2016.