Liriano, Tyner Called Up

Good news: Twins management decided not to wait until next week to call up Francisco Liriano. He and outfielder Jason Tyner were placed on the roster last night and should be available to play against the Indians today.

Liriano is the International League Rookie of the Year, posting a 9-2 record with 1.78 ERA, 0.88 WHIP, .177 opp avg, and 112 strikeouts (11.08 K/9) in 91 innings at AAA. Next to Felix Hernandez of Seattle, he's been billed lately as one of the top pitching prospects in baseball. And as if that didn't sound almost too good to be true, he's even lefthanded and hits 97+ on the radar gun. Expect the Twins to use him out of the pen for most of the month, but I hope he might get at least one or two starts as the schedule winds down.

Tyner hit .286/.351/.334 in 577 plate appearances for Rochester this season and led the team with 81 runs scored and18 stolen bases. Gardenhire has mentioned that he'd like to have Tyner onhand for his speed, although it's not likely we'll see much of him until the Twins might be officially eliminated from the postseason, or can clinch an October berth. Look for him to show up mainly in pinch-running and pinch-hitting spots in the next few weeks.