Pagliarulo's Fantasy Notes From Spring Training | Mario Soto's Blog

So far in Spring Training Francisco Liriano has been throwing three pitches: fastball, change-up and slow curve. The big change in his arsenal is that he's using his curve and not his slider - a result of his elbow surgery at the end of 2006. While the curve puts less stress on the elbow than his slider, it's not nearly effective, at least not yet. Two years ago, Liriano's slider graded out at a 70 on a 20-80 scale, where 80 is the best and 50 is the major league average. Because his curve currently grades out at 45, he'll have to throw more change-ups if he wants to get hitters out via swings and misses. Liriano's curve is slower than his change-up, which makes the effectiveness of his off-speed stuff less than ideal.

Fantasy advice: Even if Liriano doesn't improve his curve, he's still a plus pitcher. If he can improve his curve, watch out. Roll the dice and draft early - perhaps in the 10-12 round range. You have to take chances to win!

Bad news for the AL West! For a few years, scouts and opposing coaches have felt that Angels closer Francisco Rodriguez was an injury waiting to happen because of his poor pitching mechanics. However, by working with pitching guru and Angels coach Mike Butcher, K-Rod has greatly improved his mechanics. Last year he was throwing 10-11 inches across his body; this year it's 2-3 inches. The result is that K-Rod is putting less stress on his shoulder and is getting better command of his pitches. One of our scouts watched K-Rod and felt he had much better extension and a more fluid delivery.

Fantasy advice: K-Rod was already an elite closer. With these adjustments, K-Rod should be back atop your closer rankings - above Putz (smaller track record) and Papelbon (the Red Sox will continue to use him with the goal of keeping him fresh for the postseason) - like he was after the 2006 season in which he had 47 saves, with a 1.73 ERA and 98 Ks in 73 innings.

Pittsburgh Pirates starting pitcher Matt Morris isn't pitching well. It's not yet March 10 and Morris is attempting to put pitch sequences together as if it's mid season. His velocity is down and his breaking pitches are not sharp. Morris is a .500 pitcher (for a good NL team) and he looks old, even though he's only 33. He's not fooling many hitters with his below average stuff.

Fantasy advice: Don't even think about it. What wins he'll give you will damage your WHIP, ERA and Ks.

By Mike Pagliarulo of www.DugoutCentral.com