Francisco Liriano said he’s making progress, even if his spring numbers have yet to catch up to how he feels.

Liriano allowed three runs and five hits over three-plus innings in the Minnesota Twins’ 5-3 loss to the Florida Marlins on Monday. He walked two, struck out one and threw 33 of his 59 pitches for strikes.

“I think I’ll be good enough to start the season,” said Liriano, 15 months removed from “Tommy John” surgery on his left elbow.

Liriano continued to throw more fastballs. He avoided reliance on his slider, which puts more stress on the elbow and may have resulted in his injury.

“I don’t want to use my slider as much this year,” he said. “It could help me stay healthy. We’ll see.”

Liriano went 12-3 with a 2.16 ERA in 2006 before the arm troubles began.

“The ball was coming out of his hand fine,” Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said. “He was a lot better than he was the last time.”

Liriano, a native of the Dominican Republic, arrived at camp a week late because of visa problems. He has an 8.10 ERA in three starts this spring and could get three more before the start of the regular season.