Just about everything went right for the Los Angeles Angels in Friday night’s series opener with the Texas Rangers. Reid Detmers finished his 2022 season on a strong note after a frustrating September, the Angels did something they haven’t done in 23 years, and they secured their fifth consecutive win and 10th in their last 14 games.
The good news started with Detmers, who held a 6.05 ERA in his last four starts. The 23-year old MLB rookie cruised through the Rangers lineup, tossing 93 pitches over 6.0 innings. He gave up just one run on four hits and one walk. He struck out nine on the evening, bringing his first full campaign to a pleasant end.
On the year, Detmers started in 25 games and pitched 129.0 innings, averaging just over 5.0 innings per start. He finishes 2022 with a 3.77 ERA, 1.209 WHIP, and 122 strikeouts. He spoke positively of the way Friday went for him after struggling his last four outings, according to Rhett Bollinger of MLB.com:
“You always want to finish on a strong note,” Detmers said. “The last few weeks had been a little bit of a struggle, but this was a good bounceback. I’m glad the way it went. It was a good way to end the season.”
Angels interim manager Phil Nevin was extremely happy with what he saw out of Detmers. Not just on Friday night, but throughout the season.
“It was a great night for him, a heck of a season,” said interim manager Phil Nevin. “You can see there’s a lot there. There’s a high ceiling, there’s leadership. You can see him being the anchor of a rotation and leading guys and making them better. It’s hard to say about somebody that’s 23 years old and two years out of college, but those are the types of guys you win with.”
As for the other section of good news, the Angels trotted out their first fully homegrown lineup since 1999. All 10 of their starters — including Detmers — made their Major League debut with the Angels. Below is that starting lineup and how each player was acquired.
C Logan O’Hoppe – Trade
1B Matt Thaiss – Draft
2B David Fletcher – Draft
3B Luis Rengifo – Trade
SS Livan Soto – MiLB FA
LF Jo Adell – Draft
CF Mike Trout – Draft
RF Taylor Ward – Draft
DH Shohei Ohtani – FA from Japan
SP Reid Detmers – Draft
As pointed out by Jeff Fletcher of The O.C. Register, several players from the last fully homegrown lineup wound up being major contributors to the 2002 World Series championship team.
Game Recap
This lineup helped the Angels grab a 4-1 victory in the series opener. Adell and Rengifo homered, Ward doubled home Trout, and Soto brought in a run via sacrifice. While the majority of the Halos season has been difficult, they are finishing on a strong note.
As previously mentioned, the Angels have now won five straight, 10 of their last 14, and are 19-13 in their last 32.