7-28-24 – By Michael Castrignano – @412DoublePlay on X
The team’s prospects heading into the final game of the series look significantly worse than when it started but that’s baseball. Looking to avoid being swept by the Arizona Diamondbacks, the Pirates will start Mitch Keller against a rookie in mound opponent, Yilber Diaz.
After posting a 4.03 ERA between AA/AAA, the 15th ranked prospect for the Diamondbacks (per MLB Pipeline), Diaz has made 3 MLB starts since his promotion earlier this month with two excellent outings followed by a real dud in his last game.
Diaz works mostly off his high-90s four-seam fastball with a low-80s slider and high-70s knuckle curve but control was a BIG problem in the minors and it is apparent in his pitch charts that this is still an issue for him.
In that recent blow-up start against the Royals, Diaz threw 46 of 71 pitches as fastballs, getting 28 swings and only 2 whiffs against the offering.
It’s a small sample size but major league hitters are figuring it out and attacking it, especially given the frequency and location issues for the secondary offerings.
Look for the heat, lay off the junk and salvage the series in Arizona.
Let’s Go Bucs!
Steel City Pirates 