Diamond to start Tuesday

[italianocubsfan7]

The Cubs have announced that Thomas Diamond will start on the mound Tuesday against Milwaukee, according to Carrie Muskat's Twitter feed. Diamond is 5-4 with a 3.16 ERA at Triple-A Iowa. He also has 104 K in 108.1 innings; opponents hitting just .218 off him.

[Little Slide Rooter]

Nice. So who gets Diamonds spot in the Iowa rotation? Any chance that theyd bump up Archer already?

[sweetpeteman]

Nice. So who gets Diamonds spot in the Iowa rotation? Any chance that theyd bump up Archer already?

 

 

I highly doubt it since he has only thrown 28 innings in AA. With Bibens-Dirkx, Jay Jackson, Samardizja, Mathes, Atkins and Coleman all already in Iowa, they don't need another starter. I would hope for Cashner to go back down and get back to starting. Carpenter could also be moved up, I think.

[Guest]

Nice. So who gets Diamonds spot in the Iowa rotation? Any chance that theyd bump up Archer already?

 

 

I highly doubt it since he has only thrown 28 innings in AA. With Bibens-Dirkx, Jay Jackson, Samardizja, Mathes, Atkins and Coleman all already in Iowa, they don't need another starter. I would hope for Cashner to go back down and get back to starting. Carpenter could also be moved up, I think.

 

And Hung-Wen Chen is also at Iowa.

[Little Slide Rooter]

Nice. So who gets Diamonds spot in the Iowa rotation? Any chance that theyd bump up Archer already?

 

 

I highly doubt it since he has only thrown 28 innings in AA. With Bibens-Dirkx, Jay Jackson, Samardizja, Mathes, Atkins and Coleman all already in Iowa, they don't need another starter. I would hope for Cashner to go back down and get back to starting. Carpenter could also be moved up, I think.

 

And Hung-Wen Chen is also at Iowa.

 

Mathes is at the point where hes just wasting a roster spot. Maybe hes a good mentor to the kids, but he really shouldnt be holding anyone back. I understand them feeling that Archer isnt ready yet, espcially with the control issues and small sample size at AA, but there are other guys who should be give that spot.

[TruffleShuffle]

Nice. So who gets Diamonds spot in the Iowa rotation? Any chance that theyd bump up Archer already?

 

 

I highly doubt it since he has only thrown 28 innings in AA. With Bibens-Dirkx, Jay Jackson, Samardizja, Mathes, Atkins and Coleman all already in Iowa, they don't need another starter. I would hope for Cashner to go back down and get back to starting. Carpenter could also be moved up, I think.

 

And Hung-Wen Chen is also at Iowa.

 

Mathes is at the point where hes just wasting a roster spot. Maybe hes a good mentor to the kids, but he really shouldnt be holding anyone back. I understand them feeling that Archer isnt ready yet, espcially with the control issues and small sample size at AA, but there are other guys who should be give that spot.

 

like who? there are a lot of guys at AAA that are "wasting" playing time, like scales. sometimes there's roster filler at AA and AAA. it's really not a big deal.

[Little Slide Rooter]

Nice. So who gets Diamonds spot in the Iowa rotation? Any chance that theyd bump up Archer already?

 

 

I highly doubt it since he has only thrown 28 innings in AA. With Bibens-Dirkx, Jay Jackson, Samardizja, Mathes, Atkins and Coleman all already in Iowa, they don't need another starter. I would hope for Cashner to go back down and get back to starting. Carpenter could also be moved up, I think.

 

And Hung-Wen Chen is also at Iowa.

 

Mathes is at the point where hes just wasting a roster spot. Maybe hes a good mentor to the kids, but he really shouldnt be holding anyone back. I understand them feeling that Archer isnt ready yet, espcially with the control issues and small sample size at AA, but there are other guys who should be give that spot.

 

like who? there are a lot of guys at AAA that are "wasting" playing time, like scales. sometimes there's roster filler at AA and AAA. it's really not a big deal.

 

I understand that not all of these guys are here because their prospcts, but they also shouldnt be blocking anyone. Scales is a great example. If prefer to just call up Tony Thomas. With Mathes, Hung Wen Chen is a guy who may not be great, but may or may not have a future, which Mathes does not. If Mathes is to remain on the team, they should try him as a loogy and not hold back anyone else.

[Guest]

Scales isn't blocking Tony Thomas, if they wanted to promote him to AAA they would do it and move Scales somewhere like they have for however many years he's been with the organization. You don't actually think they're saying "Wow, Thomas is hitting in AA, we should promote him. Wait, no, I see Scales is here at Iowa, sorry Tony", do you?

[rawaction]

Plus, often times you want the legit prospects at AA because they are playing against other legit prospects. If you have a good looking young hitter, you want to see him hit against the Chris Archer's of the world vs. hitting guys like JR Mathes. And that's because ML hitters will see a lot more guys with strong arms and good breaking pitchers over junkballers typically in AAA.

[risico]

Am I the only one who's underwhelmed by this guy? I'd rather see Cashner get stretched out for that role or see what Jay Jackson can do.

[dew1679666265]

Am I the only one who's underwhelmed by this guy? I'd rather see Cashner get stretched out for that role or see what Jay Jackson can do.

 

I'm excited about Diamond not because I think he'll be a top of the rotation guy, but because I think he can be a quality starting pitcher in the majors. He's a former top 10 pick, was a top 75 prospect in two seasons (2005 and 2006) and finally appears to be figuring it out.

 

He's got nearly as many strikeouts as innings pitched (104 Ks in 108 IP) and a 1.2 WHIP. With Jay's recent struggles, Diamond seems like the best candidate. I still favor putting Cashner in the rotation next year, though it might be tough for him to stretch out and not risk injury to get into the rotation this year.

[rawaction]

Am I the only one who's underwhelmed by this guy? I'd rather see Cashner get stretched out for that role or see what Jay Jackson can do.

 

Jackson has some things he needs to work out. And somebody has to start until Cashner gets stretched out. Don't have a problem with this.

[mookie]

Yep. Color me pretty jazzed to see the kids starting to come on up to the top. I think Cashner will be starting next season, and Diamond needs a shot. Not every young arm brought up is going to be an ace.

[KingCubsFan]

Yep. Color me pretty jazzed to see the kids starting to come on up to the top. I think Cashner will be starting next season, and Diamond needs a shot. Not every young arm brought up is going to be an ace.

Cashner should be getting stretched out right now. Otherwise, he's just an injury waiting to happen in 2011 or 2012.

[The Logan]

Every time I see Diamond's last name mentioned on here I keep thinking it's Dustin Diamond

[d_money]

Cashner should be getting stretched out right now. Otherwise, he's just an injury waiting to happen in 2011 or 2012.

 

I don't know much about Cashner but its clear he has a plus fast ball - but does he have a change or curve? He also seems to have some control issues. Basically, I don't know why everyone thinks he s/b in the rotation. What am I missing?

[Guest]

Cashner should be getting stretched out right now. Otherwise, he's just an injury waiting to happen in 2011 or 2012.

 

I don't know much about Cashner but its clear he has a plus fast ball - but does he have a change or curve? He also seems to have some control issues. Basically, I don't know why everyone thinks he s/b in the rotation. What am I missing?

 

He has a plus slider and a good change.

[dew1679666265]

Cashner should be getting stretched out right now. Otherwise, he's just an injury waiting to happen in 2011 or 2012.

 

I don't know much about Cashner but its clear he has a plus fast ball - but does he have a change or curve? He also seems to have some control issues. Basically, I don't know why everyone thinks he s/b in the rotation. What am I missing?

 

He's spent his entire minor league career as a starter and been pretty dominant overall.

 

This season in 9 starts he struck out 59 batters in 57 innings while posting a 0.947 WHIP. In three seasons as a starter he's struck out 153 batters in 177 innings with a 1.235 WHIP. And he's been slightly young for each level. He's too good to leave in the bullpen.

[risico]

Am I the only one who's underwhelmed by this guy? I'd rather see Cashner get stretched out for that role or see what Jay Jackson can do.

 

I'm excited about Diamond not because I think he'll be a top of the rotation guy, but because I think he can be a quality starting pitcher in the majors. He's a former top 10 pick, was a top 75 prospect in two seasons (2005 and 2006) and finally appears to be figuring it out.

 

He's got nearly as many strikeouts as innings pitched (104 Ks in 108 IP) and a 1.2 WHIP. With Jay's recent struggles, Diamond seems like the best candidate. I still favor putting Cashner in the rotation next year, though it might be tough for him to stretch out and not risk injury to get into the rotation this year.

 

Are we talking about the same guy? This guy is 27 years old, has never posted an FIP below 4 at any minor league level, and has shown over the course of his career that he's prone to walking hitters and giving up lots of line drives and flyballs, many of which are HRs.

 

I just don't see any reason to think he's going to figure it out and become a good pitcher.

[dew1679666265]

Are we talking about the same guy? This guy is 27 years old, has never posted an FIP below 4 at any minor league level, and has shown over the course of his career that he's prone to walking hitters and giving up lots of line drives and flyballs, many of which are HRs.

 

I just don't see any reason to think he's going to figure it out and become a good pitcher.

 

He's been bad prior to joining the Cubs, but he's put up some very good numbers this year in Iowa. He has a 3.16 ERA and a 1.218 WHIP so far in Iowa and has struck out 8.6 batters per nine innings while posting a 3.8 BB/9. His 2.26 K/BB is better than it's been since he was 22 in between A+ and AA.

 

He is 27, but like I said, is a former 1st round pick (#10 by the Rangers) and was rated the #52 prospect in baseball in 2005 and the #72 prospect in 2006. Probably not an ace at this point, but he could settle in as a mid-rotation type guy if he's figured it out. Here's his baseball-reference page.