Morning Rundown: Derek Diamond strikes out two in AFL
Morning Rundown: Derek Diamond strikes out two in AFL
Pirates hitters go hitless, Derek Diamond comes out the bullpen
The Scottsdale Scorpions had a Saturday afternoon Arizona Fall League game in Phoenix against the Surprise Saguaros. Two Pittsburgh Pirates were in the starting lineup. Third baseman Kervin Pichardo batted in the seventh spot, while catcher Geovanny Planchart hit eighth in the order. Derek Diamond made a relief appearance. This was scheduled as a seven-inning game due to a second contest being played afterward by two other AFL teams.
Pichardo came up in the second inning with no outs and a man on first base. Scottsdale was already down 2-0 at the time. He moved the runner to second base with a ground out to third base. Planchart followed with a fly out to left field. The Scorpions failed to score in the frame, then went down 3-0 in the bottom of the inning.
Pichardo flew out to center field to end the fourth inning. Planchart led off the fifth inning after Surprise took a 5-0 lead in the bottom of the fourth. He drew a walk.
Diamond took the mound in the bottom of the fifth. He had a quick inning with two strikeouts surrounding a ground out to second base. He needed 13 pitches total, though each of the strikeouts came on three pitches. Diamond threw 11 of those 13 pitches for strikes during his only inning of work. Gameday had limited data available for this game, so there are no pitch types or velocities. Diamond has a 3.68 ERA over 7.1 innings in his four appearances (one start) this fall, with six hits, one walk, and ten strikeouts.
Scottsdale mounted a comeback in the top of the sixth, putting up two runs before Pichardo came up with the bases empty and two outs. He lined out to left field to end the inning. Planchart popped out to the pitcher in the seventh inning.
Pichardo finished the day 0-for-3. He's batting .259/.355/.556 over eight games.
Planchart went 0-for-2 with a walk. He's now hitting .350/.435/.700 through 23 plate appearances.
Scottsdale lost 5-2, dropping them to a 5-11 record. The Scorpions have off on Sunday. They return to action on Monday night, when they will be at home to take on the Salt River Rafters (8-7) at 9:30 PM EST.
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The Scottsdale team is struggling, but some very positive results so far for Pirate players Sammy Siani, Termarr Johnson, Pitcher Derek Diamond, and to a slightly lesser extent, player MI Kervin Pichardo.
Siani is very strong defensively and can plug that defensive hole in LF, and enable Bryan Reynolds to get more acclimated to RF where he can be better than what he has been showing in the vast LF at PNC Park. Termarr Johnson came out of a game and then did not play in the next two, so is there an issue? Could be nothing more than it being the longest season he has seen as a professional. Last year he played right at 100 games, and this year he is already at 130+ games, but is still in the Top 15 hitters in the AFL. Diamond has impressed in 7+ IP, 1 BB/10K. Kervin Pichardo is a VG MI, and the bat has shown some consistency. Some team could steal him, or he could be a part of a multi-player trade for a hitter who can actually hit for power.