The Angels announced to reporters (including Mike DiGiovanna of the Los Angeles Times) they’ve optioned starter Reid Detmers to Triple-A Salt Lake. Reliever Jimmy Herget heads to the 15-day injured list with a shoulder issue, and the club recalled Oliver Ortega and Elvis Peguero to take their active roster spots.
Detmers’ demotion is the most notable of today’s series of moves, as he heads to the minors for the first time this season. The tenth overall pick in the 2020 draft, the southpaw flew through the minors to reach the big leagues last August. He started five games last year and has opened this season in the rotation, taking the ball 12 times.
The 22-year-old no-hit the Rays on May 10, achieving the rare feat only 11 starts into his big league career. That’s one of two no-hitters thrown in MLB this season (five Mets combined to keep the Phillies out of the hit column in April), but Detmers’ start-to-start consistency has been lacking. He’s only eclipsed five innings on one other occasion, and he’s allowed four-plus earned runs in three of his past five appearances.
Altogether, Detmers owns a 4.66 ERA across 58 innings this season. That’s in spite of opponents hitting only .204 on balls in play against him, and Detmers’ peripherals have been disappointing. He’s struck out 18.6% of batters faced on a meager 8.7% swinging strike rate, with both marks sitting a few points below the respective league averages. The Louisville product has also given up 11 home runs (1.71 per nine innings), and the front office evidently decided it better to give him a reset in a lower-pressure environment.
Inconsistency aside, Detmers is still young enough to be viewed as a potential long-term starter. He’s drawn praise from evaluators for his secondary pitches and strong control, and he reached the majors after just one start with Salt Lake last year. The club could recall him within 15 days (sooner if he’s replacing an injured player), so it’s possible Detmers will be back at Angel Stadium before the All-Star Break.
The timing of his next promotion will be important from a service time perspective. Detmers accrued 64 days of MLB service last year, and he’s picked up around 76 more days this season. Players are credited with a full year of service upon spending 172 days on an MLB roster or injured list, leaving Detmers around the 140-day mark presently. He’ll need to spend around a month more in the big leagues this year to eclipse his first full year of service before the end of the season, which would keep him on track to first reach free agency after the 2027 campaign.
Ham Fighter
No hitter to back to triple A yikes
The Baseball Fan
More so, I would be impressed that he threw a no hitter now considering his age and little experience in the bigs.
hiflew
Sounds like he might become the next Bud Smith.
Ully
weird side note, Bud Smith then went in to audition for Moneyball movie
DonOsbourne
Excellent reference
vaderzim
With an opponent Average of only .204 against him and an ERA of 4.66, he likely needs to work on control. He’ll be back soon.
Curly Was The Smart Stooge
My Reid on this, he’ll be back after some adjustments.
Memphis Kong
Not with the Angels. No development team, soon to be an Astro.
prov356
They’re doing Detmers a favor like Adell. They both need to hone stuff at AAA. Both will be back but don’t rush them. The no-hitter was a high note that he couldn’t reproduce.
Yankee Clipper
Hey Prov356! This kid looks to be the real deal, brother. I was impressed seeing him in some of his outings. It’s clear he’s got the requisite tools to be a high-end starter. Yanks saw him first-hand on June 2, and he performed admirably, with only 5 hits & 0 ER in his 4+ innings pitched, man. Not too many pitchers can say that against the Yankees lineup this year. They just battered Alek Manoa & he’s having a Cy Young-type year….
Future looks bright in Halo Land for this kid. You guys got a good one.
Curly Was The Smart Stooge
Ditto Mon Clipper, who has the where abouts at 22 to throw a no hitter? This dude is serious mound material
After the gold rush (no hitter) time to breath deep & pan for gold again.
C Yards Jeff
And Detmers, “the dude”, will “abide”. More to come!
kellin
Its long over-due.
HalosHeavenJJ
In general, I agree with honing your stuff at AAA but in our case AAA is over 4000 feet higher in elevation than the big ballpark. I’d rather have our pitchers work on stuff in AA Huntsville.
He just needs to disguise his delivery a bit more IMO. Gets kind of easy to see when that big curve is coming at times.
C Yards Jeff
This looks like a wise move by GM Manasisn (sp?)? Is this an indication he is conceding that the Angels will not make the playoffs? Detmer looks like the real deal to me. Why use up valuable service time this year. Keep him under 172 and the Halos get another year of control. Maybe?
kellin
Real deal? As in 4th starter? He’s supposed to be an ace type.. if he’s going to be one, he needs a lot more work, maybe AAA is the place for him…
C Yards Jeff
@kellin. I hear ya! And hopefully he will be that ace some day. But for the purposes of making the playoffs this year, as a #4, I’m thinking management saw him as an integral part of making that happen while also him gaining experience at “the show” level to be that ace at “the show” level? Maybe? So for now move him back down to AAA to hone ace level stuff and save a year of control. Definitely GM amateur hour thinking on my part, I know. Fun! Cheers!
Yankee Clipper
That is a valid point, Jeff. Although I do understand the dual advantage of getting him more reps to hone his craft at AAA, & keep additional control, one does wonder if the Angels, who seem to be in contention this year, will be able to effectively replace his productivity.
C Yards Jeff
@Yankee Clipper: Thanks for the get back. It would be awesome to see the Halos make a run here. Maybe that’s why they sent him down at 140? If they do catch fire, they’ve got up to 31 innings they can use and still have him under control for that extra year? Go Halos! That said, I think the GM has thrown in the towel
Mystery Team
The Angels are in contention alright contention to finish around .500 as usual lol.
JoeBrady
Is this an indication he is conceding that the Angels will not make the playoffs?
===================================
That should be the assumption. They’ve gone 6-21 over the last 27 games. It’s important to be realistic and know when your window is.
hiflew
Do you realize how few players actually make it through the six years of service time? Very few. Most players big league career ends before arbitration, let alone six years of service. Service time manipulation only applies to the best of prospects, not guys like Detmers.
johnrealtime
I agree with your comment except for the last sentence. Number 10 pick in 2020 draft and #21 and #28 prospect in MLB (depending on where you look) heading into this year after making only 14 MiLB starts. He’s the type of guy I think you do have to consider service time with
C Yards Jeff
@hiflew: Interesting. I didn’t know this.
Thank you. Curious to know if there is a % that better defines “few”. Also have a question. If they want to trade him, is the extra service year appealing to the inquiring team? IE more value thus the Angels get more in return? All this said, I also agree with @johnrealtime, he seems pretty legit to me as well. Cheers!
C Yards Jeff
@hiflew: clarifying my curiosity about lack of service time manipulation by GMs. Seems here in Baltimore it’s definitely a part of Elias’s strategy/modus operandi when it comes to moving along prospects. He’s an Astros guy. Did he get this from Houston and brought it to Bmore?
Neon Cop
How do you even begin to fix this team…
Johnny Bravo
The only way to fix the team if Arte Moreno would sale the Angels Or change the name to the Los Angeles Devils Maybe that’ll get rid of the evil cloud
johndietz
Detmers will be fine. Working with Wallach might help. Angels should’ve easily kept Wallach up and designate Suzuki, but for a team going with Lagares over Adell I guess nothing surprises me. And YES, I know Adell had his struggles too but the reason they gave was a lack of playing time. How many starts have gone to outfielders not named Ward, Trout, and Marsh? Too many!!
Yankee Clipper
Hey, IF Detmers has any issues with the coaching staff in Anaheim, I’m confident in speaking for Yankees fans everywhere by saying he’s welcome to come on over to try Matt Blake’s tutelage…
johndietz
It’s time to pay Ohtani. I’m thinking 5/225 is plenty fair for a guy who is clearly at the top on both sides. 5/250? Or 8/450? He can earn 50 a year for 5 or 45 a year for 8. As long as his legs don’t get injured, arm problems will only cost us on the mound. The 6 man rotation should mitigate that
WeggieJackson44
Can we please stop referring to the Mets game that has 5 pitchers as a NO HITTER?!?! If you go to the bullpen it’s not a no hitter. Even in today’s over managed, over analyzed game!!!
Old York
Meanwhile, they didn’t give the No-Hitter to the Madison Bumgarner, despite playing within the rules set out by MLB for that season. MLB is such a mess right now to think giving a team the no-hitter status for having 5 pitchers. Might as well give everyone a trophy on that team and say they all threw a no-hitter, even the position players.
solaris602
I still think it’s hilarious that MLB listed MadBum’s no-no as a “notable achievement”. Such nonsense
Old York
A bit off the MLB average for ERA (4.01) while his is 4.66. A little more seasoning in the minors and hopefully that fixes things for him. He’s still young enough to make some adjustments. To be honest, his numbers, in relation to the MLB average aren’t that terrible.
MLB ERA: 4.01
Detmers: 4.66
MLB WHIP: 1.271
Detmers: 1.103
MLB BABIP: .288
Detmers: 204
MLB H9: 8.3
Detmers: 6.7
MLB BB9: 3.2
Detmers: 3.3
His only real red flags are
xERA: 5.01
FIP: 5.37
xFIP: 4.81
Cincyfan85
The Angels should trade Ohtani for major league ready SP and a middle infielder.
Rsox
This move is probably more about Detmers service time than any “adjustments” that need to be made
johnrealtime
If the team is going nowhere and a top prospect who spent very little time in the minors is struggling in the majors, and the GM DOESN’T send that prospect down, IMO you fire that GM. This is a no brainer for service time and other reasons
JoeBrady
It’s more than just Detmers. Adell has been awful, but demoted, and Marsh has been awful, and getting worse. No one ever wants to quit, but the Angels need an honest assessment of their chances this year. If the come to the conclusion that this is not their year, then Detmers, Adell & Marsh should spend the rest of the year in AAA. Both for control & development purposes.
And once they do that, that frees them up to trade Syndergaard & Lorenzen. Offer to eat 100% of their salaries, and you should get something decent back. To me, it is always that you are either a current year contender, or you are a future-period contender. The middle off the road is not an attractive option.
Steve(shs22)
Why Pay Anthony Rendon that money Angels fans ?
Shohei O will now dash.
prov356
Steve – “Why Pay Anthony Rendon that money Angels fans ?”
Because the contract says they have to.