The Los Angeles Angels have definitely found something this year in the performance of left-hander Reid Deters.
Going into the season, the Los Angeles Angels really had no idea if former reliever Reid Detmers could become a reliable big-league starter. They’d seen evidence of successful starts, including a no hitter early in his career, but doing it every five days is something different altogether.
Detmers is doing just that, however. He went seven innings against the Arizona Diamondbacks last night, giving up just three hits with no walks as the Angels got a rare shutout route over Arizona, 7-0.
Rest assured, his manager is grateful. Kurt Suzuki has had to watch a lot of bad starts this year, and it has to be a relief to see someone like Detmers who consistently knows what he’s doing when he takes to the hill.
“It was fun to watch,” Suzuki said in a piece written by Rhett Bollinger of MLB.com. “Obviously, Det set the tone on the mound, attacking guys, putting guys away, putting up zeros. And then the offense, pretty consistent, every inning getting baserunners on, putting pressure on them, putting runs across. So, good team effort.”
As Bollinger noted, Detmers has been on a roll for about the last month, as he’s posted a 1.36 ERA with 39 strikeouts in 33 innings in that time. He’s got 100 strikeouts in 88 innings to go with a 3.68 ERA overall, but Detmers is also learning to do something that’s frowned on these days, which is pitch to contact and recognize an opponent that could be susceptible to that strategy.
“They don’t swing and miss a whole lot and put a lot of balls in play, so just work off them putting everything in play,” Detmers said of his appraoch against Arizona last night. "Just trying to keep the ball down and pick and choose when to go up. Other than that, just stuck to our game plan of keeping the ball down and making them hit on the ground, put it in play.”
Detmers was also able to reach back for a strikeout when he needed one, which happened against Corbin Carroll in the sixth inning with two men on. He used his fastball to finish off a nifty pitch sequence, and that’s the kind of high-level pitching approach that the Angels haven’t seen much of this season.
The Angels left-hander is rumored to be on the block, and he could be the consolation prize in the Tarik Skubal sweepstakes as half the teams in the league chase the prized Detroit Tigers starter. It would be a shame for Angels fans if that happens, but they should enjoy Detmers’ starts now, because he really is doing some superb pitching.
