The Los Angeles Angels gave the ball to rookie Reid Detmers to face the Tampa Bay Rays, one of the top teams in the American League, with the consideration it could’ve been his last start before they optioned him back to Triple-A.
To that point, Detmers had struggled, throwing just 22 innings across five starts while posting an ERA of 5.32 and a FIP that suggested he was only slightly better. He failed to make it out of the fifth inning in three of his starts.
But on Tuesday, everything went right for the southpaw as he completed the 12th no-hitter in franchise history and the first Taylor Cole and Felix Peña combined to throw one on July 12, 2019, when the team celebrated the life of and mourned the loss of Tyler Skaggs.
With his 108th pitch of the night, Detmers had finished the first solo no-hitter of the 2022 season and the 316th in MLB history while fulfilling a childhood dream, he said via Mike DiGiovanni of the L.A. Times:
“Getting the last out,” Detmers said without hesitation, when asked what the coolest part of the evening was. “It’s just something I’ve dreamed of ever since I was a little kid. I didn’t think it would ever happen. Yeah … I don’t even know. I probably won’t even remember this tomorrow morning.”
Detmers was one walk and an error away from a perfect game, but with the accomplishment, he became the youngest pitcher in Angels history to throw a no-hitter at just 22 years and 306 days old.
The performance also potentially gave himself some extra leash to stick in the team’s rotation:
“Bully for him,” Angels manager Joe Maddon said. “I mean, that’s potentially a life-altering event for a young man, as a major league player. Hopefully, we’re gonna get a lot of residue out of that in the future because he’s capable.
“Of course, no-hitters don’t happen all the time. I’m just saying that’s how he should pitch. That’s what he should look like more often.”
Angels manager Joe Maddon said he saw Detmers had a much better presence on the mound, which allowed him to look and feel the part as he threw the no-hitter:
“The only time I got nervous was when I got two strikes on the last batter,” Detmers said. “I was shaking a little bit. But other than that, I tried to keep myself pretty calm.”
With the start, Detmers lowered his season-ERA to 3.77. Although it can’t be expected for Detmers to repeat this performance, the team will look for him to carry this momentum into future starts and continue to improve.
The 10th overall pick in 2020, Detmers has tons of talent, and hopefully, this gives him the confidence to put it all together on a more consistent basis.
Mike Trout set Angel Stadium home run record
In the sixth inning of Monday’s 11-3 win against the Rays, Mike Trout hit a two-run home run to put the Angels up 5-1 to put the game out of reach. But perhaps more importantly, it also put Trout back at the top spot on another Angels’ record.
The home run was the 161st career home run Trout has hit at Angel Stadium, which set a new record for most home runs in the ballpark by a player. Although it may seem fishy, the record was previously held by Tim Salmon, who hit 160 career homers at the Big A.
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