Thread: Mackey: Diamond Has Been Good, But Let's Not Get Carried Away

http://www.1500espn.com/sportswire/M...ied_away081912

I don't care if he is labeled as an ace or a 2,3,4,5 or AAAA.

Barring injury he's the only Twin Starter that has a job (for sure) waiting for him in the 2013 rotation. So carry me away.

I am not expecting Diamond to be a Cy Young candidate but a solid starting pitcher is something the Twins lack. He can be that pitcher for now and who knows about the future.

Another one of these weird columns where Mackey is arguing against no one in particular. Does anyone actually believe Diamond is going to be the ace on a good team?

Sweet damn the sports writing in this town is crap.

Between this gem and the "Mauer needs to swing" article, Twin Cities sports reporting is at another all-time low.

Diamond will still make a good #3 starter. Deduno may be able to be a #4 or a #5. That still leaves 3 spots to fill.

Mackey teaching us all about something we already know.

I've got to agree with Nick that the article is kind of a strawman argument.

OK, Mr. Mackey when can we get carried away and call Scott Diamond the Twins' ace?

Suppose he finishes the season 14-7 with an ERA of 2.90. Clearly the best pitcher on the Twins in 2012.

Now suppose next year he goes 18-9 with an ERA of 3.12. Then would it be OK to call him the Twins' ace?

Or is the argument that he should not be called an "ace"?

"Hey look, a pleasant surprise. Let's make sure nobody gets excited about it."

I'm not a big Phil Mackey fan. For the most part I find his analysis interesting but his tone condescending.

On this column, though, I wonder if his audience isn't the Twins brass as much as the wide world. Part of a campaign to remind them that they have a long way to go with the pitching staff.

Originally Posted by JB_Iowa

I'm not a big Phil Mackey fan. For the most part I find his analysis interesting but his tone condescending.

On this column, though, I wonder if his audience isn't the Twins brass as much as the wide world. Part of a campaign to remind them that they have a long way to go with the pitching staff.

Well they'll surely pay attention now that Phil Mackey has told them about it.

Mackey = Reusse

How did Minnesota end up with so many hacks?

Phil's the smartest Guy in the room.

If you don't believe me, just ask him.

If the Twin Cities sports writing is so bad what towns have it good? I know it ain't Seattle because i lived there for 3 years and Boston and NY are so condescending and negative that i can hardly believe they can be considered good. Also which TC sports writers ARE good? Personally I like LENIII.

Let's please try to keep the focus on the piece, not the writer. I know I sort of opened the floodgates on that one but there's no need for attacks.

Originally Posted by Nick Nelson

Another one of these weird columns where Mackey is arguing against no one in particular. Does anyone actually believe Diamond is going to be the ace on a good team?

Someone here stated that he'll never post an ERA above 4. Does that count?

Without a doubt the Twins need to bring in 2 starting pitchers for next season (unless they are okay with attendance continuing to plummet). That being said, why can't Diamond continue to pitch this well. He has good mechanics, good location, and seems to stay pretty calm.

Also, just have to add that this is a tough crowd. Man, maybe it's because a lot of us are passionate about baseball and writing. In general we have pretty good witty writers covering this team. Barrero used to suck..., but he's gone. Mackey and Reusse are solid. Hell, Reusse even goes to amatuer baseball games for fun. How many sports writers in other markets do that?

Benefit of the Doubt: Maybe he's arguing against the front office? At this point, who else gets the ball to start 2013?

Originally Posted by Nick Nelson

Does anyone actually believe Diamond is going to be the ace on a good team?

I guess I don't understand this question. You seem to be saying Diamond needs to be on a good team to be an ace. In other words, he can't be an ace because the Twins aren't good. Is that it? So by extension Felix Hernandez is not an ace because he's on the Mariners?

I don't understand why Diamond could not be an ace on the Twins. Is the implication that if Diamond were on a 'good team' he would not be the number one starter? If so, isn't that because most good teams already have an ace?

Just to show you how hard this question can get--who's the ace on the Phillies? Or since the Phillies are not a good team this year, then they don't have an ace this year?

I know when we think 'ace' we think of power pitchers that get a lot of strikeouts and dominate opponents--Verlander, Jered Weaver, Strasburg. So R.A. Dickey, at 15-4, more strikeouts than IP's and a 2.89 ERA is not an ace? Zach Greinke was an ace on the Brewers but now that he's on the Angels he's not?

I think what we need is a consensus definition of what makes a pitcher an ace.