Another post suggested the Twins flip Diamond for Hendriks if he doesn't turn it around by the end of the month.

It has been on my mind as I listened to the Gardenhire show yesterday morning and the post game conference following the game.

If Diamond is to get a handful more starts before flipping him for Hendriks, can he at least have a different catcher.

Doumit doesn't catch often but he has caught 11 of 16 Diamond starts. Gardy quoted ERA as a reason. Hopefully someone in the organization will let him know that ERA isn't a very good measure in small samples or for projections. The catcher and pitcher have much more influence over strike outs and walks than ERA.

Diamond k/bb totals with Doumit as a catcher is 28/16.

With Mauer it is 16/3.

In 2012, Mauer caught many more of Diamond's starts.

Mauer 54/16 (16 starts)

Doumit 23/13 (8)

Butera 13/2 (3)

As a team, pitchers with Mauer have a k/bb ratio of 2.63 and 1.53 with Doumit.

Of course, Gardenhire commented in the post game about the difficulty all of his pitchers had keeping the ball down yesterday. Perhaps it would help if they used catcher with the ability to convert most of the balls low in the strike zone into strikes. Just once I would like to hear him say that they need to do a better job of receiving the ball down in the zone.

Is it time for Diamond to be sent to AAA? Maybe. He seems pretty messed up and time in AAA with Butera may help. If he stays, I hope he gets Mauer behind the plate.

The more we learn about pitch framing, the more I begin to wonder the same thing. For a pitcher who needs to be very fine with his command, it would seem pitch framing would be especially important for Diamond. As you have pointed out in the past, Doumit rates as the worst catcher as far as pitch framing goes in the league, so getting him away from Diamond and letting Mauer frame for Diamond might make a big difference. Thanks for sharing the numbers!

I said the same with Correia and Doumit, it just doesn't work. My solution is to have Doumit only catch when Mauer can't.

Oh man, you are going to blame Diamond's performance on his catcher? Are you one of his parents or what?

The very fact that we talk about pitch framing, and making something that is not a strike a strike, is a travesty for the game now that we have the technology to take the arrogant umpire's bad calls out of the game, and give the fair game to the players.

The very fact that we talk about pitch framing, and making something that is not a strike a strike, is a travesty for the game now that we have the technology to take the arrogant umpire's bad calls out of the game, and give the fair game to the players.

I don't think it is the arrogance of umpires that impacts the strike zone according to catcher. I think it is a catching skill. Since it is a skill, I appreciate watching catchers that are particularly good at it just as I appreciate watching shortstops good at picking a ball in the hole.

Albers should be called up to take the spot if Diamond gets demoted.

I don't think it is the arrogance of umpires that impacts the strike zone according to catcher. I think it is a catching skill. Since it is a skill, I appreciate watching catchers that are particularly good at it just as I appreciate watching shortstops good at picking a ball in the hole.

I am with you on the "art" of catching. The fact is, it is impossible for a human to call the strike zone accurately and consistently, and have any two human umpires call the same zone. The pitch crosses the plate were it does (or doesn't), no matter where the catcher catches or frames the ball. We now have the technology to instantly call the pitch correctly game to game, pitch to pitch, no matter where the stadium is, what the weather, where the sun is, or who delivers the ball. The line of site angle created from looking over the inside shoulder of the catcher is particularly severe for the low part of the zone and the outside of the zone. Heaven help us if it is the perfect pitch on the low and outside corner of the zone. The umpire is just guessing. Always. And now they are exposed as quick as they can call it. (They even miss some of the inside pitches at the belt, right in front of them!) The umpire arrogance comes from standing behind horrible calls with pompous displays. Some say that is the human part of the game. I say it is, and always will be, the ANTI-human part of the game. It is the part that was embraced only because there was no other way to do it until this decade. It is the part that takes the game away from the players...... the humans that deserve to be deciding the game, not the umpire. The players are the human part of the game. The umpires are the anti-human part of the game. The whole "framing" issue is a perfect example of making something it is not, and it is a great example of why to make changes the improve the game, and give it back to the players. The batter deserves the perfect take for a ball, and the pitcher deserves the perfect strike that just cut across the front corner of the plate and ended up 8 inches outside by the time it gets to the catcher's glove. When the human eye no longer is doing the guessing, the game will become more human.

Fair enough. Technology is reasonable solution. It certainly would help the Twins. Does it matter that this technology might only be available in the major leagues?

Fair enough. Technology is reasonable solution. It certainly would help the Twins. Does it matter that this technology might only be available in the major leagues?

I don't think so, but I am sure that some will argue about that and the very essence of the change with fervor. Maybe the mound should be raised back to where it was and the DH taken away, and the soft ball returned, and all the other changes that were hard for the non-progressives to take, too? Naaaaaa.