Thomas Diamond
#10 Overall Pick in the 2004 First-Year Player Draft
Texas Rangers Baseball Club

City	Team	League	Year
Metairie, LA	Archbishop Rummel Raiders	High School	1997-2001
New Orleans, LA	UNO Privateers	College (Sun Belt Conference)	2001-2004
Spokane, WA	Indians	Northwest League (A)	2004
Clinton, IA	Lumber Kings	Midwest League (A)	2004
Bakersfield, CA	Blaze	Cal League (A)	2005
Frisco, TX	RoughRiders	Cal League (AA)	2005
Detroit, MI	MLB All-Star Futures Game	MLB	2005

Biography & History, as of April 2006 (courtesy of Frisco RoughRiders, © 2006) 2005: Thomas was named the Texas Rangers Nolan Ryan Minor League Pitcher of the Year in his first full professional season... split the campaign between Bakersfield (A) and Frisco (AA), combining to go 13-4 with a 3.53 ERA (59 ER/150.1 IP) and 169 strikeouts in 28 games/starts... led all Texas full-season minor leaguers in wins, ERA and strikeouts... earned Rangers Minor League Pitcher of the Month honors in May and June, going 5-0, 1.66 (11 ER/59.2 IP) with 78 strikeouts in 10 games/starts for Bakersfield and Frisco during that two-month stretch... ranked by Baseball America as the Rangers’ 3rd-best prospect during the offseason... tabbed by the same publication as the 4th-best prospect in the Texas League and the 8th-best prospect in the California League. Bakersfield (Blaze): Started the season with the Blaze, going 8-0 with a 1.99 ERA (18 ER/81.1 IP) in 14 games/starts... held California League batters to a .191 (53-277) average, including a .136 (12-88) mark in June... went 3-0 with a 3.16 ERA (9 ER/25.2 IP) over 5 games/starts, through April 30... was 5-0, 1.46 (9 ER/55.2 IP) with 72 strikeouts over final 9 games/starts to lower Cal League ERA from 3.16 to 1.99... registered wins in each of his final 4 Bakersfield starts, posting a 1.01 ERA (3 ER/26.2 IP) during that span... recorded 5 or more strikeouts in 11 of 14 outings, including season-high 14 K’s on June 9 vs. Lancaster and June 19 at High Desert... did not allow an earned run in 6 of 14 starts... tossed first career complete game shutout in final start with the Blaze on June 19 at High Desert... did not walk a batter and allowed just one hit, a single by High Desert catcher Jared Price with one out in the 3rd inning... Price was later picked off by Blaze catcher Justin Hatcher, as Diamond faced the minimum of 27 batters in his shutout performance... following the hit, Diamond recorded the game’s final 20 outs in order... the CG SHO was one of just 3 in the California League in 2005, and the only one-hitter... recorded 10 strikeouts in 6.0 scoreless innings on May 29 at Lake Elsinore and tallied 14 K’s in 7.0 scoreless frames on June 9 vs. Lancaster... held left-handers to a .162 (23-142) average and right-handers to a .222 (30-135) mark... earned California League Pitcher of the Week honors in consecutive weeks, from June 6-12 and June 13-19... was selected as a mid-season All-Star, but did not participate in the California League-Carolina League All-Star Game after being promoted to Frisco... was named as a California League Postseason All-Star, despite appearing in just 14 games for the Blaze... led the Cal League in ERA and strikeouts and was tied for the league lead in wins at the time of his promotion. Frisco (RoughRiders): Was promoted to Frisco on June 21... went 5-4 with a 5.35 ERA (41 ER/69.0 IP) and 68 strikeouts in 14 games/starts with the RoughRiders... made Double-A debut on June 27 vs. Tulsa, allowing 2 runs in 4.0 innings... earned first Frisco win in his next start, on July 2 vs. San Antonio, allowing 2 runs (one earned) in 7.0 innings... lost both of his next 2 outings, allowing 9 earned runs in 7.0 innings to raise ERA from 2.45 to 6.00... won each of his next three starts, from July 19-29, posting a 2.41 ERA (5 ER/18.2 IP) to lower ERA to 4.17... tossed 6.0 scoreless innings in last game of the stretch, on July 29 at Corpus Christi... was 1-2, 6.68 (24 ER/32.1 IP) over his final 7 games/starts to raise ERA to 5.35... earned lone win in that season-ending stretch on August 30 at San Antonio, allowing 2 runs with 10 strikeouts in 7.0 innings... tossed 5.0 or more innings in 7 of 14 starts... recorded at least 5 strikeouts in 9 of 14 outings... held opposing batters to a .249 average, .270 (31-115) against left-handers and .233 (35-150) against righties... went 2-2, 7.09 (26 ER/33.0 IP) in 7 games/starts at home and 3-2, 3.75 (15 ER/36.0 IP) in 7 games/starts away from Frisco’s Dr. Pepper/Seven Up Ballpark... held opposing batters to a .207 (28-135) on the road... opposing batters hit just .231 (25-108) in 6 games/starts in August. 2004: The 10th overall selection in the 2004 June draft, Thomas split his first professional season with Spokane (A) and Clinton (A), going a combined 1-2, 2.15 (11 ER/46.0 IP) with 68 strikeouts in 12 games/10 starts... rated the Rangers' top prospect by Baseball America over the offseason... also named by publication as having the best fastball in the Texas system... averaged 1.48 strikeouts per 9 innings pitched as he twice struck out 10 of 14 batters faced in games... struck out 37.6% (68 K/181 BF) of batters faced in his first pro season... signed on June 26 and was assigned to Spokane in the Northwest League, going 0-2, 2.35 (4 ER/15.1 IP) in 5 games/3 starts... made professional debut on July 6 vs. Yakima and recorded 5 strikeouts in 2.0 shutout innings... on July 15 vs. Eugene, earned only career save with 4.0 one-hit innings... recorded 10 K's in that contest, as 10 of his 14 batters faced were retired via the strikeout... tossed 4.0 shutout innings in his Spokane finale on July 23 at Boise, recording 4 K's with no walks... was promoted to Clinton following that outing... opponents batted .228, with lefties at .222 (4-18) and right-handers at .231 (9-39)... struck out 15 of 23 batters faced in 2 home outings... joined Clinton in late July and went 1-0, 2.05 (7 ER/30.2 IP) in 7 games/starts... made LumberKings debut on July 30 at Beloit, earning his first career win... allowed 2 runs in 5.0 innings with 4 strikeouts... tossed 5.0 hitless innings in 2nd outing on Aug. 4 at Wisconsin... pitched 4.0 hitless frames on Aug. 14 vs. Wisconsin, retiring 10 of 14 batters faced on strikeouts... pitched career-high 5.0 innings in each of his first 3 outings... had a 1.69 ERA (5 ER/26.2 IP) in first 6 starts before allowing 3 runs (2 earned) in 4.0 innings in final appearance on Sept. 1 vs. Quad Cities... Midwest League opponents batted .167, with left-handers at .137 (7-51) and right-handers at .193 (11-57)... posted a 1.50 ERA (2 ER/12.0 IP) in 3 home starts... had just 8 walks against 42 strikeouts... recorded at least 4 strikeouts in every outing with Clinton... held opposition to one or zero hits in 5 of 12 outings... participated in Rangers' offseason mini-camp in January 2005, working with several of the organization's pitching instructors... University of New Orleans: Was Rangers' first selection in the 2004 June amateur draft, the 10th overall pick out of the University of New Orleans... was one of 2 first round picks for Texas (also RHP Eric Hurley, 30th overall)... ranked as the 11th-best prospect by Baseball America prior to the draft, the 8th-ranked pitcher overall... was rated as top Louisiana prospect by the publication... majored in business administration... College Career: New Orleans native posted a 3.27 ERA (80 ER/220.0 IP) in 52 games/26 starts in his 3-year career at UNO... ranks 3rd all-time on the school's strikeout chart with 278 K's... 2004: As a junior, went 6-4, 2.38 (30 ER/113.2 IP) in 17 games/starts for the Privateers... was voted the Sun Belt Conference Pitcher of the Year and was named preseason second-team all-American by Baseball America... earned first team Sun Belt honors as a starting pitcher... recorded 138 strikeouts in 113.2 innings while issuing just 45 walks... opposing hitters batted just .209 against Diamond, who registered 4 double-digit strikeout games, including 17 strikeouts in a complete game win over Arkansas State on March 26... he tied a school and Sun Belt Conference record with those 17 K's... named the school's male athlete of the year... named to the inaugural Roger Clemens Award watch list, presented to the nation's top college pitcher, an award that went to Long Beach State's Jered Weaver... pitched at least 6.0 innings in 13 outings... ranks in the UNO single season record books for a single season in strikeouts (2nd, 138) and starts (T7th, 17)... allowed two or fewer earned runs in 13 of his starts... twice gave up no runs to get no decision...he notched double digits in strikeouts four times in 2004 with a pair of 15-strikeout performances against Northern Illinois and Louisiana-Monroe in consecutive outings...won the Sun Belt Conference Pitcher of the Week Award three times in 2004 and also captured the LSWA accolade once... 2003: Made the Baseball America 2003 first team summer all-America squad... led the team in ERA (3.39), saves (5) and strikeouts (96)... ranked 2nd on the team in appearances and 3rd in innings pitched (69.0)... started the final three conference series of the season... 2002: Appeared in 14 games/6 starts...went 2-2 with a 5.79 ERA and 44 strikeouts in 37.1 innings... earned victories in his last 2 starts of the season... recorded first career win on May 1 vs. Nicholls State, tossing 6.1 innings with 9 K's... posted a 5.84 ERA with 18 strikeouts in 8 relief appearances... High School: Was a 3-year letter winner for head coach Frank Cazeaux at Archbishop Rummel HS in Metairie, Louisiana...named all-district and all-state following senior season...had 20 strikeouts in a 7.0-inning game... drafted by the Tampa Bay Devil Rays in the 38th round of the 2001 June amateur draft. Personal: Thomas Nicklaus Diamond was born on April 6, 1983 to parents Cheryl and Ricky Diamond in New Orleans, La... is the oldest of three children... hobbies include fishing... Louisiana native participated in the Rangers’ Hurricane Katrina relief efforts in September 2005... also participated in the Rangers’ winter caravan this offseason.

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