47 Francisco Liriano, SP

Pirates pitcher Francisco Liriano is showing improved numbers in his small two-game sample. His first-strike percentage is at it's highest rate since 2010. He's also induced swinging strikes 14.9 percent of the time, his highest rate since 2006. He's been an extreme-fly ball pitcher in his two starts, with just 28.6 percent of balls in play being grounders.

As Fantasy owners know, Liriano has shown flashes like this before, so he's not completely safe after just two starts. Based on what he's shown, he's worth a speculative pickup. But owners should be cautious with his usage. Liriano will pitch against the Cubs Wednesday.

So Francisco Liriano has 16 strikeouts over 11 innings in two starts since returning from the DL and seems to have his usual velocity, averaging 92.8 miles per hour on his fastball. Pretty cool.

He also has a 1.55 WHIP in those two starts, allowing more than hit per inning in each.

Two starts don't tell us much of anything but because neither has made me jump out of my chair and say, "Oh, wow! This is the Liriano we've been missing the last three years," I'm not in a hurry to add the Pirates left-hander off the waiver wire. It's not like he stopped striking out batters with the Twins and White Sox. The problem was all those baserunners.

Sure, Liriano is worth a flier if you need a strikeout specialist or a high-upside guy -- I currently rank him 82nd at starting pitcher -- but he's far from a must-add.

Pirates starting pitcher Francisco Liriano struck out seven batters while allowing just one earned run in 5 2/3 innings against the Brewers Thursday night, picking up the win to move to 2-0 on the year.

Liriano has struck out 16 batters in 11 innings through his first two starts. He'll try to keep rolling against the Mets at home next week.

With one sterling start under his belt, Pirates starter Francisco Liriano is among the most added players in Fantasy heading into Week 7. If Pittsburgh pitching coach Ray Searage can continue to work his magic, it might not be long before he’s gone in your league.

Our Nando Di Fino said he’s excited about Liriano during Monday’s broadcast of Fantasy Baseball Today. Scott White, on the other hand, took the more cautious approach by saying he’d spend a flier on Scott Kazmir before Liriano.

Pirates starting pitcher Francisco Liriano was in peak form in his first start of the season after being activated from the disabled list Saturday. He mowed through the Mets.

Liriano allowed just one run on an infield single in the sixth inning that ended his day. Otherwise, he was pretty much untouchable. He did not allow a batter to reach third base through his first five innings of work.

Pitching on a 90-pitch limit, Liriano limited the Mets to just one run in 5 1/3 innings. He struck out nine batters while allowing six hits and two walks to earn the win in an 11-2 game.

His velocity was good throughout the start, averaging 93.6 miles per hour with his two-seam fastball. He threw 57 of 90 pitches for strikes, and had 20 swinging strikes.

Liriano is set to make his second start Thursday against the Brewers. Liriano had been sidelined since breaking his non-throwing arm in the offseason.