Minnesota Twins Pitchers Proving that No Arm Surgery Is Minor

[SoCalTwinsfan]

I looked at how much the pitchers that are coming off arm surgery have struggled.

 

Scott Diamond, Vance Worley and Mike Pelfrey all had surgery and have combined to go 9-18 with a 6.11 ERA this season. Worley has already been banished to Class AAA Rochester, while Diamond and Pelfrey are on the hot seat now that pitching prospect Kyle Gibson has been called up and is scheduled to make his major league debut on Saturday, June 28.

 

You can read the rest of Minnesota Twins Pitchers Proving that No Arm Surgery Is Minor at Yahoo! Sports.

 

Were the Twins counting too much on these players? Will Worley ever be the same pitcher he was with the Phillies?

[DaveW]

Pelfrey came back really quickly and to be frank he was never anything super to begin with. Diamond is puzzling, I still think he can turn it around.

 

Worley is the biggest question mark.

[Brock Beauchamp]

I think Worley and Diamond's problems stem from the fact that neither is all that good at pitching. Same goes for Pelfrey but he's coming back from TJS. It's not shocking to see him scuffle.

 

With that said, I think both Worley and Diamond will return to being serviceable pitchers. We just need to give them a little time and it's a good idea that some of that time come in Rochester.

[nicksaviking]

I think Worley and Diamond's problems stem from the fact that neither is all that good at pitching. Same goes for Pelfrey but he's coming back from TJS. It's not shocking to see him scuffle.

 

I agree, but the original premise is hard to argue with. Twins pitchers post surgery have not faired well. Perhaps our expectations for normalcy needed to be adjusted. We see so many minor, league-wide surgueries performed with little variance in reuslts and we expect the same from our guys.

[SoCalTwinsfan]

I think Worley and Diamond's problems stem from the fact that neither is all that good at pitching.

 

Worley had a career ERA+ of 113 with the Phillies and a career xFIP of around 3.70 before the surgery. Diamond was near the top of the AL in walk rate and ground ball rate, and since he is left-handed, he profiles perfectly as a pitcher that can do very well with a low K rate.