Bill Batterman is the At 6-foot-2 and a generous 160 pounds, Pedro Liriano has become just the latest Brewers’ prospect to hit the show in 2004. Only 23-years old, the right-hander features a low-90s sinker, a hard biting slider, and a changeup that tails down and away from lefties. His repertoire isn’t overpowering, but his mix of command and poise has catapulted him from a low-level fringe prospect with the Angels to the #22 spot on Brewerfan.net’s Latest Power 50, nothing to scoff at in baseball’s best farm system. Like many of his peers from the Dominican Republic, Liriano has persevered through a great deal of adversity on his way to the big leagues. Constantly told that he was too small to make it, Liriano has overcome the cultural obstacles that plague non-English speakers as well as the baseball challenge of succeeding without a powerful fastball.
“Too many people tell me that,” he told Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel about the persistent questions about his size, strength, and durability. “I think I can pitch in the big leagues. I just need to learn more and work on my command. When I have good command, I think I can throw any pitch and nobody will hit it.”1
It hasn’t always worked out that way, but Liriano has put up impressive numbers throughout the minor leagues. While he has struggled in his first stint at Triple-A this season, the youngster has still given the Brewers’ organization rays of hope that the fruit of one of Dean Taylor’s last transactions will pay dividends in Milwaukee.