Angels Dilemma: Weighing the Future Against the Present with…

Reid Detmers’ 2024 season could summed up by his final start.

Detmers demonstrated both the challenges he faced last season and the reasons the Angels still believed he has the potential to be a frontline pitcher. He allowed four runs over five innings in the Angels’ 5-2 loss to the Texas Rangers. Each run was scored via three home runs and Detmers also struck out 12.

The left-hander will have the opportunity to fight for the fifth and final slot in the Los Angeles Angels rotation entering spring training or he could be wearing a different uniform altogether.

Mark Feinsand of MLB.com suggested one player to be traded from each of the 30 clubs and Detmers is the Angels representative.

“Following the free-agent signings of Kikuchi and Kyle Hendricks, the Angels have some much-needed depth in the rotation,” Feinsand writes. “Detmers took a step backward in 2024, posting a 6.70 ERA over 87 1/3 innings, but the 25-year-old showed enough promise in 2022-23 for another team to believe he would benefit from a change of scenery.”

Detmers wrapped up his season with a 6.75 ERA across 17 major league starts and a 5.54 ERA in 14 starts at Triple-A. His total of 164.2 innings marked a career-high.

Since returning from Triple-A, Detmers struggled with an 8.14 ERA over his last five starts. However, he did show promise with 39 strikeouts in 24.1 innings

Detmers credited his fastball command with his late-season improvements.

“Getting the fastball down in the zone has helped a lot,” Detmers said at the time. “Instead of everything being up, now they have to see stuff being down and up, so that opens things up a little bit.”

At 25, Detmers remains under team control for four more seasons.

The Angels are hopeful he can find the consistency they know he’s capable of. After throwing a no-hitter in his 11th major league start in 2022, Detmers has alternated between periods of brilliant pitching and stretches of struggle.

The struggles led him to a demotion during the season that turned into a three-month-long “awakening.”

“He got an awakening,” manager Ron Washington said after the final start of the season on Sept. 28. “He’s a major league pitcher, and he had to spend some time in the minor leagues because he just couldn’t get his game together. Came up and got it together. Still see some things you need to work on, and that’s keeping the ball down in the zone and making better pitches in certain situations. But he showed you what he’s made of and he showed you what he can do.”