Reid Detmers

Detmers delivered a surprise performance in 2022 by pitching a perfect game and posting a 3.77 ERA for the season out of nowhere, but he unsurprisingly came back to earth last year with a 4.48 ERA, 1.35 WHIP and 168:60 K:BB across 148.2 innings. He found an extra tick on his fastball in 2023 (94.4 mph) and upped his strikeout rate to 26.2 percent, but a 9.3 percent walk rate and 1.15 HR/9 both took a step back from the previous season. A 40.9 percent hard-hit rate was also worse, and his results appear to be well earned with a 4.45 xERA. The Angels lack any real rotation depth, especially with Shohei Ohtani departing via free agency, which should lock Detmers in for regular starts again in 2024. Detmers will turn 25 years old in July and still has some upside, but he's not a stable option for fantasy managers beyond providing innings and decent strikeout numbers. Still, you could do much worse to round out a rotation, especially in deeper leagues.

If you have Detmers as the only pitcher to throw a complete game no-hitter in 2022 as a preseason prediction, come collect your prize. Detmers entered that contest in early May with a 5.19 ERA and 3 homers allowed in 17.1 innings and proceeded to blank the Rays. Six weeks later, he found himself demoted to Triple A after consecutive rough outings, but came back just before the break and closed the season 5-3 with a 3.04 ERA with an 18% K-BB% while scattering 1.3 baserunner per nine innings. His 25% strikeout rate belies his actual stuff as he must get ahead to use his breaking balls to survive. He lacks the stuff to pitch from behind and if batters do not chase the breaking stuff, he can quickly get into trouble. The profile is fraught with risk, so proceed with caution more than with gusto.

Detmers, the No. 10 overall pick in 2020, is at the stage of his development where he has nothing left to prove in the minors but is still waiting to have prolonged success in the majors. He registered a 3.19 ERA, 1.15 WHIP and 108 strikeouts in 62 innings at Double-A and Triple-A and has never pitched below Double-A in pro ball. On the flip side, he gave up 17 earned runs, five home runs and walked 11 in 20.2 innings through five MLB starts. The 6-foot-2 southpaw's famously plus curveball played as it should (.226 xBA, .320 xSLG, 33.3 Whiff%), and his slider was almost as good. He threw those breaking balls a combined 50% of the time. However, his 93-mph fastball, which he threw 45% of the time, got hammered by big leaguers to the tune of a .334 xBA and .743 xSLG. The margin for error is much smaller against big-league hitters, but if Detmers can have a better plan and better execution of when and where he throws his fastball, he clearly has the secondaries to be a high-strikeout big-league starter as early as this season.

Detmers' fastball sits at around 91-92 mph (touches 94), but that did not prevent him from absolutely dominating college hitters over his last two seasons at Louisville. The 6-foot-2, 210-pound southpaw had a 1.23 ERA, 1.00 WHIP and 48:6 K:BB in 22 innings as a junior and threw another 50 innings between the alternate site and instructs. His command, pitchability and competitiveness are elite, which is why he is able to get the most out of his stuff. He locates his fastball, which has above-average vertical drop, wherever he wants and complements it with a plus mid-70s curveball. Detmers throws his fastball and curveball in any count and gets whiffs inside and outside of the zone. His slider and changeup could each be average offerings. He seems to have the tools to produce like a No. 2 or No. 3 starter while having fringe-to-average fastball velocity. Detmers could debut this summer if a need arises.