The most intriguing stat of the 2024 season for Derek Diamond
Righty feeling effects of playing at First National Bank Field
After starting the year on the injured list, Derek Diamond has slowly worked his way back into the rotation picture with the Greensboro Grasshoppers, the affiliate with whom he finished the 2023 season.
Drafted out of Ole Miss in 2022, Diamond had a solid first year in pro ball, with now Altoona manager Robbie Hammock speaking highly of him during their time together.
The numbers maybe weren’t overly spectacular in his first go-around in Greensboro. Still, he’s seeing a lot more success this time, even putting up a very noticeable statistic—one that feels very ‘he is playing at First National Bank.’
Going into his last start against Aberdeen, Diamond had allowed more home runs than batters he had walked.
A three-walk day flipped those numbers around, but even with that, in 52 innings this season, Diamond has allowed eight home runs while walking just nine.
It’s a testament to his ability to throw strikes—he has the lowest walk rate in the South Atlantic League among pitchers with at least 50 innings pitched—and the hitter confines that he plays his home games.
Six of the eight home runs that Diamond has allowed this year have come at home, leading to a 6.53 ERA (compared to a 2.59 ERA on the road).
One factor in his success in Bradenton was his 53.3% ground ball rate. It dropped to 36.2% when he was promoted to Greensboro in late 2023 and has since risen a bit (44% this year).
That has allowed the flyball rate to drop from 38.3% to 30.2% from last year to this season. That’s important, especially pitching in the SALLY, which can be a little more on the hitter-friendly side of things, at least traditionally.
Diamond has an above-average HR/FB rate of 16.7% currently, where league average is generally around 10%. That’s a big part of why his xFIP is among the best in the system at 3.73.
We saw Sean Sullivan get beat up pretty badly in Greensboro due to an unsustainable HR/FB% before putting up better numbers once he got to Altoona. Diamond could follow a similar path should the Pirates decide to move him up to Double-A at some point.
Diamond, a sixth-round pick in 2022, was an interesting signing. There was some talent there in college before falling off during his draft year.
Hammock mentioned that he thought Diamond could pitch for a long time, and that can certainly be the case if he continues to throw strikes consistently throughout his career.
In the meantime, Diamond will continue trying to navigate the misfortune of pitching in a hitter-friendly ballpark. The metrics continue to move in the right direction—the strikeouts are up, with the walks way down.
It’s just a matter of putting it all together and maybe getting out of High-A with a promotion.
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