Rymer Liriano May Not Be Ready For Prime Time

San Diego signed Rymer Liriano as an amateur free agent not long after his 16th birthday in 2007. He made his major league debut more than seven years later, on August 11th of this year. Three games into his major league career, he hit his first major league homer. Since then, however, Liriano has struggled mightily.

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Rymer finished 2014 with a .220 batting average, with just the one homer and a pair of doubles in 109 at-bats.He also struck out 39 times and only drove in six runs. This performance is a far cry from what he did in the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League in very limited duty. With El Paso, he hit .452 with 13 RBI in only 17 games and 71 plate appearances. His minor league track record suggests that he’ll have more power than the three extra base hits in 121 major league plate appearances would suggest. He’s also got plenty of speed, so the hits will come.

Padres’ management thinks that more Triple-A seasoning might be in order to start 2015, as he doesn’t have much experience above Double-A. He also missed all of 2013 with Tommy John surgery. His strikeout totals suggest that work on his plate discipline would be in order. The Pads are expecting Liriano to participate in winter ball to continue his development, but don’t be surprised to see him start 2015 in El Paso.