The Los Angeles Angels decided to option starting pitcher Reid Detmers to Triple-A just six weeks following his no-hitter against the Tampa Bay Rays on May 10.
His no-hitter was the 12th in franchise history and gave the Angels a glimpse into the talent he has, but his follow-up performances since have shown Detmers still has much to learn.
In six starts since his no-hitter, Detmers has posted a 5.67 ERA and a 6.87 FIP with just 27 innings pitched. One of the more glaring stats is 44.3% of contact he allowed qualifies as hard hit, which is another reason why he could use some time in the Minors to work out some issues, via Jeff Fletcher of the O.C. Register:
“Just a little bit of a reset for him,” Manager Phil Nevin said. “There’s greatness in there. I’ve said that before. There’s been a ton of guys who had to go back down and kind of reset themselves.”
Some can look at Detmers’ no-hitter and point out that he benefitted from a lot of defensive play and the lack of strikeouts really made it a team-earned accolade, but in his cold stretch he has lost his ability to put hitters away and induce bad contact.
Detmers has always relied on his feel for pitching rather than purely dominant stuff, so when he loses some of that feel, the results won’t be ideal:
“It’s repeating pitches, understanding how to shorten at-bats, not throwing as many pitches,” Nevin said. “That’s all part of learning how to pitch. He really hasn’t had that many major league or minor league innings underneath his belt. It’s very rare you see the guy come right out of college, and have the accomplishments that he’s had.”
The 22-year-old with less than a year of service time was supposed to be sent down if that May 10 start didn’t go well, but a no-hitter will buy anyone more time to prove their staying power, but this is the correct call with a rookie who was starting to stack rough outings:
“Sometimes things just snowball and it just weighs on you,” Nevin said. “You can tell from his demeanor a little bit, the confidence wasn’t quite what it was. With a guy with his stuff, it shouldn’t be that way. I think he understands that but you know, there’s pressures of pitching up here. There’s pressures of pitching everywhere. He’s a first-round pick and he got here quick, but to go down where he’s gonna be at, he’ll take a deep breath, get some good work in. He’s going to be back here. He’s going to make some starts this year. I can assure you that he will. He’ll be better.”
Detmers carries a 4.66 ERA and a 5.37 FIP in 12 starts this season and will look to tinker with things just as the Angels did with sending outfielder Jo Adell to Triple-A for equal troubles.
Adell’s mentality praised by Angels
The Angels broke camp with Adell on their active roster to start the 2022 regular season, but glaring issues with his play forced the club to option him to Triple-A Salt Lake in early May. However, it has been his handling of the back and forth that has earned him praise from those in the organization.
Adell struggled in April in different areas, from defensively to at the plate and with mental lapses. His on-base percentage was nearly identical to this batting average, and he struck out 21 times while walking only once.
Optioning Adell was necessary with that type of play as it’s unsustainable for anyone, especially for a 23-year-old former top prospect. However, he turned it around in May with a .367 on-base percentage and six home runs while tallying 13 walks in 64 at-bats with the Bees.
Adell was recalled for a stretch from June 5 through June 10 and hit .368 AVG and a .429 OBP, which is a credit to himself and the Angels praised him for dealing with the demotion well.
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