The Scott Diamond Matrix?

I made you a matrix:

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[TD]Plus Command

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I chose to use the word "average" to be kind to all stakeholders. By average, I mean not plus. By plus, I mean great. In hindsight, these words would have been fine.

Moving on, when you look at Jordan Zimmermann's numbers, you don't see a pitcher that much different from Scott Diamond. He doesn't strike out a ton of batters, although certainly more than Diamond. He gets ground balls and limits home runs. When you watch the two, especially when they pitch against each other, you can see the differences clearly.

Zimmermann has better stuff. His fastball is better, he locates that fastball better and his secondary stuff is better. You wouldn't necessarily see that on paper, but it's hard to ignore when watching the two throw baseballs at batters. I threw in Sam Deduno and Rich Robertson to complete the matrix, not to take shots. Diamond will never have Zimmermann's stuff, so his margin of error is smaller. Deduno will never have Zimmermann's command, so he needs to rely more on his stuff. Rich Robertson is retired, so he will really struggle to get MLB hitters out.

Pedro Florimon is pretty cool.

Pedro Florimon has become pretty much what I had hoped he would become. In fact, I'm on record in the pro-Florimon column prior to the season's start. Don't believe me? Pudding. See, I'm so amazeing. Whoops, spelled that wrong. Cancelled out.

Regarding Florimon, he's a steady, sometimes spectacular shortstop who can hit above .220. His plate discipline has improved, as his strikeout rate has decreased and his walk rate has increased. By any WAR-type measure, Florimon has been worth around one win this season. This projects to a 2.5-3.0 WAR player by season's end. I'll take that at shortstop, especially at a league minimum salary.

Chris Parmelee is underwhelming.

I was in the middle of writing about how I don't think Chris Parmelee is getting better when he lined a double off the top of the wall in the 6th inning of Game 1 on Sunday. I thought to myself, "Brad, he's got a nice swing, he hits some doubles, give him a chance." Then FSN put the "Chris Parmelee - 6th double on the season" graphic up. I feel my original thoughts are confirmed. Parmelee isn't getting better. I still think it would be wise to give him at least another month of starts. By July, if he is still hitting like he is right now, I'd call up Oswaldo Arcia and improve the team.

Defending Aaron Hicks^n, when n = all the time

I'm not going to expend any more energy writing about Aaron Hicks. I defended him immensely in my Friday mailbag. While it may seem crazy to move a .175 hitter up in the batting order, I think it is a wise move. Looking at who sits at the bottom of the order, Hicks at least has some power. He's still not going to get a lot of hits, but when he does, those hits could lead to runs. It makes sense while not making any sense.

Speaking of not making any sense, here is some madness:

Photoshop/Baseball Card from Past:

Twins Daily member chuchadoro enjoyed my FSN girls/Gary Wayne photoshop but said that he prefers Keith Atherton to Gary Wayne. Fair enough. I dug up an Atherton card and made him this:

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/--PcrjmzAqXc/UbTmbouf8KI/AAAAAAAAAuA/SlpdH5KJS-Y/s320/foxsportsathertongirls.png

You know what? I think we're on to something.

Former Twin Update: Francisco Liriano

More like Fantastic Liriano! Through 36 innings with Pittsburgh, he's posted an ERA of 1.75 with a 1.17 WHIP. He currently has a walk rate lower than he has posted since 2010. He is also posting a higher strikeout rate than any season since before his TJ surgery. I don't think the Twins should have signed him, simply because of their history, but I am not surprised that he is pitching well. He isn't this good, but he should help the Pirates as they try to make the playoffs for the first time in 20 years.

Random Facebook Question - In reference to 1st-round pick Kohl Stewart

Q: Great! So we'll see him in 6 years? That's if he doesn't go play QB for Texas A&M and go pro right?

A: Oh, you are just the best kind of fan. Does everyone remember the scene at the end of Major League 2 when "Wild Thing" comes out of the bullpen to face Parkman in the ALCS and that one annoying fan has been razzing him for months? Vaughn basically tells the fan to "stick it" but with more colorful language. So, fans like these should be repeatedly told where they can stick comments like these and they should be told these things directly by the players.

My proposal: One offensive fan per game. At the beginning of the game, the fan stands in the outfield while each player on the roster walks past telling them what their "loyalty" means to them. Basically, it's the hockey playoffs "props" line, but with insults and possibly curse words added in place of handshakes. The fan has to just stand there and take it. It's certainly controversial, but I know I would enjoy it. It might get me to a game in person too.

Top 5 List - Why is Clete Thomas batting second?

1. Clete Thomas wears number 11 and 1 + 1 = 2
   
2. 2 people think it's a good idea, so that's where he'll bat
   
3. Batting second enhances his arm accuracy and arm strength
   
4. Lineup is alphabetical (this could be refuted using knowledge)
   
5. This turkey was put in charge of making the lineup:
   

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-yCzQ2Pn4Sto/UbTlcm6i7FI/AAAAAAAAAt4/kFuYkJl51A0/s320/turkey1.jpg

Link to Something I wrote:

I found some fun Twins batting records a couple months ago. You can read it here. The only reason I post this now is that I promised to find pitching records and I still plan to do so. Perhaps this week. I appreciate your patience, I am very busy photoshopping Keith Atherton and Gary Wayne's head in places.

Poll Results!

I had posted a poll on my blog and I have the results!

Question - Which Twins Prospect do you look forward to the most? - 157 votes

• Byron Buxton - 78 votes
  
• Miguel Sano - 53 votes
  
• Alex Meyer - 5 votes
  
• Frank Stallone - 21 votes
  

Ouch, I would have expected Meyer to fare better than Stallone, but you never know until you collect the data. Buxton surged ahead of Sano in the past week or so.

I posted a new poll, please take a moment to vote. Democracy!

Parting Haiku:

Here come the Phillies

Ben Revere is back for now

Straighten your hat, man

Have a great week!

For all the mods encouragement of people to blog, its a small crime that nobody front paged this one. A+ post.

My thoughts:

A. Its time to start referring to Jordan Zimmerman as an ace. Which gives the Nats, what, 3 aces when everyone's healthy?

B. I'm just not buying that Florimon's current numbers reflect his true talent, but I don't really have any statistical backing for that opinion. His plate discipline has improved for the 2nd straight year. His defense has been fine (this past weekend notwithstanding). Even his BABIP could stand to gain a few points probably. But my eyes are telling me that he is Alexi Casilla 2.0. Hope I'm wrong.

C. Parmelee. I've been a skeptic all along and I really hope the Twins don't bend any further over finding a way to get him playing time. The overwhelming majority of his professional career has been mediocre, save a few hot weeks in AAA in 2012. But even Clete Thomas can get hot for a few weeks in AAA. I hope neither of those guys stops Arcia getting a full share of playing time now that his shoulder's better.

D. I watched a few of Liriano's starts, including one a few weeks ago where he struck out 7 in a row, tie-ing a Pirates franchise record. He's still filthy, his changeup has been especially filthy this year, but he still falls behind out of the stretch more than he should. He has been bailed out on more than one ocassion by Clint Hurdle's shifts though. That said, he has been nearly unhittable out of the windup. Side note, I'm going to go ahead and predict Hurdle for MoY in the NL right now. The Pirates are a good team.

Thanks! Zimmermann is great. I was surprised how good his stats were over the past three seasons. I agree with you on Florimon and Parmelee. With Florimon, I'm employing blind optimism, just because the Twins rarely keep a competent shortstop and they seem to like Florimon. I'm with you on Parmelee and I'm about ready to see him put on the bench.