Twins' Diamond no longer having such a rough time
There's a reason the Rule 5 draft remains obscure to most baseball fans: Most of the players never pan out. But there have been notable exceptions, such as Bobby Bonilla and Johan Santana and, just maybe, Scott Diamond.
The Minnesota Twins picked Diamond, 25, in December 2010 after Atlanta left him off its 40-man roster. They completed a trade for him when it became clear he wouldn't make the active roster in 2011, a requirement for Rule 5 picks.
Good move.
Diamond on Saturday improved to 7-3 with a 2.63 ERA in 11 starts after beating the Royals 7-2 in the opener of a doubleheader sweep at Target Field. He gave up two earned runs on six hits and two walks, striking out four. It was his fourth win in six June starts and his second straight eight-inning performance, a boon for a team whose bullpen ranked third in innings pitched through Saturday.
But Diamond's Twins career didn't start this way. He made his major league debut in a September call-up last season and went 1-5 with a 5.05 ERA in seven starts. And when it became clear Diamond wouldn't make the rotation out of camp this spring, the Twins sent him to the minor-league side in just the second round of cuts.
"He was disappointed when he got sent out; I can tell you that first hand," general manager Terry Ryan said. "We did it for a reason: I didn't want him not getting innings, and neither did (manager Ron Gardenhire). He was going to sit there and not get enough innings, and then he wouldn't be ready for Rochester, either. That happens too much.
"Gardy and I told him, 'Listen, you know we're going to need somebody, probably sooner rather than later. You go down and make sure it's you.' And he did."
Last September, Diamond gave up 51 hits and walked 17 in 39 major league innings; since being recalled on May 7, Diamond has given up 76 hits and 11 walks in 74 innings.
"I feel pretty comfortable with all my pitches right now, but my mentality is just attacking," Diamond said. "So before I always felt like I was trying to throw a perfect pitch. I'd get ahead 0-1 and try to make a perfect one, and right now I'm just trying to locate to areas instead of certain spots. It seems to be successful."
He said he had few expectations when he was called up this season and vowed to keep it that way.
"That's kind of been my whole plan leading into the season: Just worry about one thing at a time and keep it simple," he said. "The only thing I know right now is I've got Detroit next, because that's where we're headed. Other than that, I'm just happy to be here."
