Should Scott Diamond be a reliever?
Posted: Fri Jul 26, 2013 10:52 pm
He actually looks pretty good tonight...changing speeds well and keeping the ball down. But since it seems like he almost always implodes in the middle innings, I looked up his stats once he gets past pitch 45. I knew they would be bad, but I couldn't have imagined how bad. Batters are averaging .445 off of him with an OPS of 1.375! And he has given up 5 HRs in the 70 at bats he has had against him once he gets to that part of the game. Since he has been reasonably effective when his pitch count is lower, you wonder how long Gardy is going to continue to run him out there as a starter, when it looks like he would be much more effective as a reliever. I suspect Gardy is leaving him in the rotation because he has no other left handed alternatives, but this is getting ridiculous.
Diamond is still young and has had some success in the bigs, so I'm not giving up on him. But it gets to be a mental thing if a pitcher always get pounded in the middle innings. As I said, he is looking good tonight...only gave up one run in the 5th. But if he continues to struggle in the middle innings, the Twins need to give him a break from starting so he can build his confidence up again. Diamond still has potential to be an effective starter if he can figure out what is happening to him mid-game, but the Twins could destroy him if they keep running him out there.
I don't have any suggestions for his replacement, but we can certainly find someone who can beat that OPS of 1.375 after 45 pitches.
Diamond is still young and has had some success in the bigs, so I'm not giving up on him. But it gets to be a mental thing if a pitcher always get pounded in the middle innings. As I said, he is looking good tonight...only gave up one run in the 5th. But if he continues to struggle in the middle innings, the Twins need to give him a break from starting so he can build his confidence up again. Diamond still has potential to be an effective starter if he can figure out what is happening to him mid-game, but the Twins could destroy him if they keep running him out there.
I don't have any suggestions for his replacement, but we can certainly find someone who can beat that OPS of 1.375 after 45 pitches.