The Los Angeles Angels are set to call up Reid Detmers, the team’s top pitching prospect, to start against the Oakland Athletics on Sunday. The 22-year-old southpaw was the Angels’ first-round pick in 2020. Detmers spent last season at the Angels alternate site after the minor league baseball season was canceled due to COVID-19. The young prospect was rated the #57 prospect in baseball before the 2021 season. His rating has only gone up. The Angels expected him to move quickly up the minor league ladder when they drafted him, noting his deep arsenal and overall polish. Yet, this season’s progress has even surprised the team as his 15.9 K/9 leads all of minor league baseball.
Angels Call Up Reid Detmers
The Angels took Reid Detmers with the tenth pick of the 2020 MLB Draft out of Louisville. The talk was of a mid-rotation starter who could get to the big leagues in a hurry due to his pitching ability and baseball IQ. Detmers turned heads in the alternate site when the command of his four pitches all graded out higher than originally expected. This season, he has shined. Detmers was the opening day starter for the Rocket City Trash Pandas in Double-A South. It didn’t go well. Detmers bounced back with a couple of decent starts to finish out his first month of pro ball. He ended May with a 4.05 ERA over 20 innings. His 13.5 K/9 did speak to his stuff is better than advertised.
Detmers Development Through The Minor Leagues
Detmers turned it up a notch after that. While his 3.86 June ERA wasn’t mind-blowing, his 19.7 K/9 definitely was. First, he struck out 14 to tie an organization record. Then, he decided to break it. Detmers struck out 16 batters over six innings on June 26. Detmers was even better in July. Much better. Over his last three Double-A starts, he posted a 2.07 ERA, 0.92 WHIP, and 14.5 K/9. The Angels finally promoted him to Triple-A on July 22. It didn’t take long for him to prove that his time in Salt Lake City would be short-lived. Detmers threw six shutout innings for the Bees, striking out nine while allowing only three hits. It would be his only start for the team.
The baseball world began to take notice. Detmers began to see his prospect ranking improve across the board. Baseball America moved him from #93 to #24 in their midseason rankings. FanGraphs moved him into the Top-40. Keith Law has moved him all the way up to #7 in his rankings at The Athletic. More importantly, the Angels decided he was ready and parted ways with long-time rotation fixture Andrew Heaney to make room for him. After 60 minor league innings, the Angels call up Reid Detmers to make his debut on Sunday. Angels fans, get your popcorn ready.
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