25-year old lefty Francisco Liriano has lost his job in the starting rotation. He has pitched in 24 games (23 starts) for the Twins this season and he is 5-12 with a 5.71 ERA and a 1.52 WHIP. He has whiffed 119 batters in 129 1/3 innings this season so he still has the ability to miss some bats. But, he has also allowed 139 hits (19 of them homers) and he has walked 58 batters. He will have to improve his control and keep the ball down in the strike zone if he wants his rotation job back for the 2010 season.

Livan Hernandez is giving the Twins a lot of innings this season but the problem is that many of them are bad ones. Hernandez has allowed a whopping 157 hits this season in only 110.1 innings for the Twins but he’s only walked 20 batters which is helping minimize the damage. He has been lucky this season as he is somehow 8-5 despite owning a 5.22 ERA and a 1.60 WHIP. It’s hard to imagine Hernandez finishing with a winning record when he has to put his whole butt behind his fastball to get it up to 85 mph.

Carlos Silva, Boof Bonser, Ramon Ortiz and Scott Baker have all stunk it up for the Twins this season and they need to step up if the Twins are to have any chance of making the playoffs this season.  Silva began the season as the #2 starter for the Twins and he is 6-10 with a 4.58 ERA and a 1.40 WHIP.  He has allowed a whopping 131 hits in 110 innings this season and he will need to miss more bats if he is to have any success in the 2nd half of the season.  Boof Bonser is 5-6 with a 4.70 ERA and a 1.49 WHIP this season.  Bonser has problems with the longball as he has allowed 15 homers this season in 103.1 innings.  He will need to do a better job of keeping the baseball in the park in the 2nd half.  Ramon Ortiz lost his starting job and now he is a mop up man in the bullpen.  He is 3-4 with a 5.35 ERA and a 1.42 WHIP so far this season.  It’s doubtful that he will get another shot in the rotation this season.  Scott Baker is the pitcher who replaced Ortiz in the rotation and he is 3-3 with a 5.71 ERA and a 1.37 WHIP so far this season.  Baker is also having a rough time with the longball as he has allowed 8 homers in only 52 innings this season.

Ramon Ortiz started the season well for the Twins, but he’s been awful lately and could be the next starting pitcher that the Twins get rid of if he doesn’t start pitching better soon.  In 9 starts this season, Ortiz is 3-4 with a 5.36 ERA and a 1.35 WHIP.  Ortiz has a good arm but the results just haven’t been there this season.  In 50.1 innings, Ortiz has allowed 58 hits, 6 homers, hit 5 batters, walked 10 batters and whiffed 20.  With Kevin Slowey and Matt Garza pitching well in AAA ball, Ortiz better get his act together soon or he’ll be sitting at home like Sidney Ponson.

Why in the world are the Twins letting Sidney Ponson start games for them?  With Kevin Slowey, Scott Baker, Matt Garza and Glen Perkins as alternatives why not let one of the kids start?  Could they do any worse?  Probably not!  Ponson has started 6 games this season and he’s 2-4 with a 6.42 ERA and a 1.87 WHIP!  In 33.2 innings this season, he has allowed an amazing 48 hits, 7 homers, has hit 3 batters and he’s walked 15 batters.  The Twins need to pull the plug on Sir Sidney because he’s not going to get any better.