MINNEAPOLIS -- Scott Diamond could have sulked when the Twins demoted him to Triple-A Rochester in early August. But the reality was that Diamond knew he deserved his fate.
Once Minnesota's most consistent pitcher in 2012, Diamond just didn't have the same confidence -- or the control -- he once did. The 27-year-old lefthander was 5-10 with a 5.42 ERA in 20 starts with the Twins before Minnesota finally decided a trip to Rochester might help clear things up.
As it turned out, a change of scenery did Diamond a world of good.
"I really didn't look at it as a step down," Diamond said of the demotion. "I looked at it as something to improve on and to work to get back. The team was great down there. The coaching staff was awesome. I think I kind of just embraced it and was able to work my way back up."
Diamond pitched well enough in a handful of starts with the Red Wings to earn his way back to Minnesota as a September call-up. He went 4-0 with a 2.40 ERA in six regular-season starts for Rochester and pitched for the Red Wings in the Game 4 of the International League playoffs, helping force a fifth game by throwing seven scoreless innings Saturday against Pawtuckett.
"He threw the ball great," Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said. "I got a chance to watch videos, got to watch some of the games for at least three or four innings that he started in. I think confidence was a big thing when we sent him down. He's definitely confident right now."
When Rochester's season came to an end one day later, Diamond got the news that, along with six others, he would be joining the Twins for the rest of September. Diamond will likely get a few more starts this month, beginning Thursday against Oakland at Target Field.
He now has a chance to once again prove that his success in the minors can be translated to the majors -- something he showed last season.
"It means a lot. They obviously didn't have to do this," Diamond said of his second chance with the Twins. "With the way that I'd been pitching when I was up here, I didn't deserve it. I knew that going down there I had to perform and get back to the basics. I'm thankful for the opportunity."
It's an opportunity for Diamond to not only show that he was worthy of a call-up, but also that he's worthy of a spot in the Twins' starting rotation next year. At the end of the 2012 season, Diamond was the only sure thing for 2013 in terms of the rotation. But he had offseason surgery to repair bone chips and missed time in early April.
When Diamond finally did make his 2013 debut, he was not the same pitcher the Twins saw the year before. He was 3-4 with a 5.08 ERA through the end of May, which was not what Minnesota was used to seeing from Diamond.
"With the year he had last year, our expectations were up," said Twins general manager Terry Ryan. "He had a good year last year, and unfortunately I'm not sure we ever got to the point where he was throwing to the level he was and was capable of last year. Early on in April, when he was coming off the bone chips, we all understood that.
"Once we got into the mid summer and we didn't see the crispness and so forth and the location, I think it was probably the time when we did send him out to let him regroup."
Heading into this offseason, there figures to be plenty of question marks for Minnesota in the rotation.
After a rocky 2013, Diamond is one of them.
With a strong September, he has a chance to help the Twins answer that question.
"Yeah, of course," Diamond said when asked if he feels like he's pitching for his job in 2014. "But at the same time I'm also pitching to show to myself that I can still play in this league. I'm feeling really confident coming in. I'm eager to get back there. We'll take it one game at a time."
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