Through 9 starts, Francisco Liriano, the assumed #2 man in the Pirates' rotation, has been underwhelming to say the least. In fact, you could argue the Pirates have actually been winning in spite of Liriano. However, what really matters in sports, isn't what happened in the past; what people really want to know is: what's going to happen next? In this case, is Francisco Liriano going to return to form as the Pirates' number 2 man? Are the 4.30 ERA and 1.47 WHIP an aberration or is this the new baseline for 'Frankie'?
Unfortunately, this looks like a case of the latter and here's why.