Danks Vs. Diamond Debate

by John Sickels on Dec 20, 2005 5:19 PM EST in News

There is a good debate in the diary section about Thomas Diamond vs. John Danks, an off-shoot of the current poll question. The poll itself is a dead-heat right now, and I will leave that one up for a few days to get more input.

I am working on the Rangers comments for the book right now, and am debating this question myself. I've liked Diamond better in the past, but now I am leaning towards Danks due to youth and projectability. Both are Grade B+ prospects. What do you guys think?

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Volquez

How about Volquez?

by GregJP on Dec 20, 2005 6:28 PM EST reply actions

Eddie V

Another impressive DWL performance this week: 6 IP, 6 H, 3 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 5 K's (2.21 ERA)

"Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice... uh... uh... you aren't going to fool me again."

by mjh on Dec 22, 2005 6:58 PM EST up reply actions

good question

There seems to be a wide gap on opinion of Volquez between those who have seen him and those who haven't.

"Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice... uh... uh... you aren't going to fool me again."

by mjh on Dec 20, 2005 9:06 PM EST reply actions

Danks

Age (including better chance to improve velocity), better curve than Diamond's change, better chance of developing necessary third pitch.

by Brett Perryman on Dec 20, 2005 11:23 PM EST reply actions

Volquez

I know the Stat's on Volquez aren't eye popping. However, he's just a baby. His A ball numbers seemed solid. I thought he handeled the transition well to AA.

I'm not a Scout, probably not even an astutue baseball fan. However, I've seen him pitch a couple of times and I can't help but think he's got some of the best stuff I've seen.

Volquez doesn't know how to pitch yet. He probably doesn't even trust his stuff yet.

However, he's got stuff that most guys will never have. If he learns how to harness it I'd take Volquez over both of those guys. I think Volquez gets hammered on prospect boards quite a bit. Seems to me we should give him the next 2 seasons to better define himself.

by RMF on Dec 20, 2005 11:30 PM EST reply actions

Danks

In my opinion, the only reason why this is even a debate is because Danks was pushed too quickly to Double A. He got hit up pretty hard there, but retained a strong K/IP ratio and I have to think that given enough time, he should handle the competition very well. There aren't too many 20 year old pitchers I can think of who would've pitched really well in the Cal League, let alone the Texas League.

Diamond pitched some great ball in the Cal League, but he was 22 this season and I would've expected good results from him there (albeit not to the extent that the statistics show). His Double A performance didn't exactly inspire confidence in me, and I think he'll end up more as a solid rotation guy than a real gem. Decent chance of being a No. 3 guy or perhaps a very good late-inning guy, but not a star starting pitcher.

As for Volquez, the reason he doesn't get more hype is because his ratios (particularly H/IP) don't inspire a lot of confidence from the sabermetrically inclined community. I think there's an above-average bust factor associated with Volquez (even for young pitchers), but I'm going to largely defer to the witness accounts on him for now.

by mrkupe on Dec 20, 2005 11:50 PM EST reply actions