Reid Detmers had been on a roll in his previous six starts for the Los Angeles Angels. In that span, he had tossed 36.0 innings with a 1.50 ERA and a 1.027 WHIP, striking out 47 batters in the process. But on Saturday afternoon against the Detroit Tigers, something was off.
Detmers gave up four earned runs on 10 hits and two walks, only managing three strikeouts in 4.1 innings of work. Despite the Angels scoring three runs in the first three innings, Detmers’ four earned was good enough for the loss.
The 23-year old left-hander looked out of sorts from the first inning, giving up a single and a steal before being bailed out by good defensive placement on a hard liner. In the second frame, he wasn’t so lucky. The Tigers managed two runs on five hits — three singles and two doubles — and a walk with the bases loaded.
Following this outing, Detmers spoke about what went wrong for him, believing that there’s nothing to be concerned about moving forward, according to Jeff Fletcher of The O.C. Register:
“I was just having a hard time settling in,” Detmers said. “The stuff wasn’t coming out great. I didn’t have a really good feel for anything. That’s pretty much that.”
Detmers also suffered from lower-than-usual velocity. He normally sits around 93-94 mph, but on Saturday his fastball averaged just 92.
“Obviously I know the velo is down,” Detmers said. “I don’t know what was causing it. It just wasn’t coming out today.”
A start like this should not be reason to believe that Detmers is regressing after a string of excellent starts. All good pitchers are entitled to some rough performances from time to time, especially when they’re only 23 years old.
Part of the growing pains of young MLB pitchers is being able to stay cool and collected after excellent outings, and bouncing back after bad ones. Detmers has absolutely seen both ends of the spectrum during his first full Major League season.
He has thrown a no-hitter, and has given up two runs or less in 12 of his 19 starts. But he also has five starts in which he gave up four or more runs to go along with nine starts of seven or more baserunners.
Shohei Ohtani’s usage could increase in 2023
It’s likely that nothing will be settled in stone until the beginning of the 2023 season, but Los Angeles Angels general manager Perry Minasian could be open to increasing Shohei Ohtani’s usage.
When he first got to the Majors, Ohtani pitched every seven days. Now, he pitches every six days for the most part. In 2023, it’s possible that the Angels put him on normal rest to have him start every five days.
