Prep Baseball Report

High School Crosscheck: Week 4


Nathan Rode and PBR Staff

The No. 4 prospect in California, RHP Derek Diamond (Ramona HS, CA), made his season debut last week—his first appearance on the mound since mid-August. The 6-foot-2, 190-pounder spent the fall as the starting quarterback for Ramona and looks the part with his athletic frame. He was free and easy with clean mechanics with minimal effort and smooth rhythm.

Diamond did battle some control, but it shouldn’t be a major concern considering it’s his first outing in seven months. Held to 40 pitches, his four-seam fastball was 88-91 mph and his two-seamer sat 87-88 with gradual arm-side movement. His most-used offspeed pitch was the cutter, which acted more like a hard slider with 10/4 break at 74-77. He also mixed in a big breaking ball with 12/6 action at 66-70 and flashed a changeup twice at 80-81.

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