TEMPE, Ariz. — Reid Detmers is hoping to smooth out the rollercoaster that the first years of his career have been.
The Angels’ 24-year-old lefty has started 53 games over the last two seasons, at times looking like one of the Angels best pitchers and at other times looking like one of the worst.
“Consistency is a huge part of this game, which is what I’ve been lacking over the last few years,” Detmers said on Thursday. “I would fall into a rut and not know how to get out of it.”
Detmers said he worked over the winter at refining his mechanics, and he finally has an idea of what he needs to do to fix his delivery when it goes awry.
“I learned a lot about my mechanics,” he said. “When I get off track, I know how to get back on track.”
So far there’s been plenty of both for Detmers, who was the Angels’ first-round pick in 2020 and made his debut with a five-game cameo in 2021.
Detmers pitched a no-hitter on May 10, 2022, and he posted a 2.63 ERA over a five-start stretch. After that he was so bad for a month that he was dispatched to Triple-A for one game. He tweaked his slider and returned to the majors, pitching to a 3.04 ERA over his final 13 starts.
That finish was so encouraging that many predicted Detmers for a breakout season in 2023, particularly because his offseason work had upped his velocity. Detmers said last spring his goal was to win 20 games.
He won four, with a 4.48 ERA.
Detmers now believes that his slider was actually too hard, touching the low 90s instead of the mid 80s. He had a 5.27 ERA when he made some more changes to his slider, allowing him to finish with a 2.41 ERA over his final seven starts.
During the strong finish, Detmers was actually throwing two sliders, a harder one and a softer one. Although at the time he said he enjoyed the flexibility of having two pitches, he now admits that wasn’t really the plan.
“It wasn’t meant to be two sliders,” he said. “The slider just did not feel good…
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