Scott Diamond was easily the best pitcher for the Twins last year. His numbers were good, but his peripherals indicated that he was a candidate for regression. Diamond has certainly regressed this year--big time. The things that helped him to be successful last year--extreme strike throwing, high ground ball rate--just haven't been as good this year. Diamond has been victimized by big innings in the middle of games and hasn't seemed to make the adjustments to minimize the damage.

 

Some of this may be bad luck, evening up for the good luck Diamond experienced last year. It also might be health. Diamond had surgery late in the off-season and started on the DL. Finally, it may be that Diamond has lost confidence and having confidence when the margin for error is small is pretty important.

 

I am a fan of Diamond. I think he does the best he can with his abilities and he is a better pitcher than he has shown so far this year. I think that Diamond can be a functional member of a good rotation. The question now is what the team can do to help Diamond be a better pitcher. I jokingly said that I would be starting a thread to demote Diamond, but perhaps a short trip to the minors would be what is best for him right now.

 

The Twins future looks good in the field. On the mound, there aren't many certainties except that most of the current staff won't be around when the club contends again. I think Diamond is one of the pitchers who could be part of the Twins when they are good again. What is best for him right now?

Switch him and Swarzak, though I guess we don't need four lefties in the 'pen. Maybe option him to AAA or DL him and call up Albers.

I think we have to keep Diamond out there on the mound until he improves or implodes.

I don't care that we're losing games because of him. We have to keep trotting him out there and maybe eventually we'll discover what's wrong and why. But we must be patient.

I honestly think it has to do with health. His rehab is going fine, but it can only go so far before they have to put him into games. The first few innings, my eyeballs tell me he's the same pitcher he was last year. The latter couple he throws (inning 5 or 6 usually) are just not the same. I do think he's earned patience though.

So when will Ron and Andy figure it out?

When will they see the pattern?

When will they have the pen up at the begining of the 5th inning?

He's part of the future. I would let him pitch thru it.

It seems like the big difference is that the third time through the order, he still frequently gets ahead 0-2 or 1-2 like the previous at-bats, but this time around he's throwing fat and up in the zone meatballs and then the whole thing comes cascading down. I was very surprised Gardy even considered throwing Diamond out there in the 6th. He looks like his confidence has been crushed by the recent turn of events. It could be a function of a health issue not yet public, lack of arm strength, or needed mechanical adjustments, or all of the above.

He's part of the future. I would let him pitch thru it.

 

Agreed who needs winning when we can lose and maybe get a #4 pitcher back on course

This all begs for "starter buy committee" where Diamond goes 3 innings, Swarzak goes 3 innings, every 4th day or so. Really, I know teams have "tried this", but they didn't try it on purpose, and over several months. This is a year to try something new. But, I don't expect that.......

 

Diamond probably could go to the bullpen, and call up Albers. See what happens. Can't hurt. Cut BJ Hermsen, he's been moved to the pen in the minors, or a random bullpen arm. Those guys are the definition of replacement level.

This shouldn't be all that shocking. 15 months ago he was barely more than a non-factor. Significant regression was probable given how tenuous his grip on success is - a lot has to go right and much of it isn't. He can still be part of the future but he is going to be a lot like Carlos Silva minus several buffet stops a week.

His xFip is only a half run greater than last year, and he wasn't healthy enough to start the season on the roster.

 

There's nothing wrong with talking about his mechanics or pitch selection, but what he's actually accomplishing on the mound is only a little worse than what we should have expected. On a team with one of the worst rotations in baseball, it's a little early to be talking bullpen.