What Reid Detmers' final start of the Angels' season meant to him
Reid Detmers was beaming when members of the media arrived in the clubhouse after the Angels’ 9-3 win over the Texas Rangers on Tuesday.
Getting to end on a high note in his final start of the season, against a team that is just a win or two away from punching a ticket to the postseason, Detmers said, gave him some semblance of peace heading into the offseason.
“The season didn't really go as planned,” Detmers said. “There's been a lot of ups and downs and not just speaking for myself, but for the whole team too. It's been a disappointing year, but for myself it’s — I’ve struggled at times, but I’ve proven I can bounce back.”
“To end the season on that kind of note, against a really good ballclub, is always nice. It lets you go into the offseason a little bit easier on yourself.”
Detmers was efficient over seven innings. He held the Rangers to one run and four hits while striking out seven over 100 pitches. His strength, along with the five-run fifth inning that allowed the Angels to definitively pull away, allowed the win to hold potential playoff implications. Not for the Angels, of course, but for the Rangers.
Read more: Angels' Patrick Sandoval reflects on challenging season cut short by injury
The Rangers entered Tuesday needing two more wins and a Mariners loss to be able to secure their postseason ticket. The Angels semi-spoiled the Rangers’ timing of securing that ticket with Tuesday’s win, while the Mariners beat the Astros 6-2. Which means the Angels will not have to watch another team celebrate clinching a playoff berth the remainder of their homestand.
Tuesday’s outing was Detmers’ ninth quality start of the season, leaving him with a 4.48 earned-run average and a 4-10 record in 28 starts.
The lowest moments of his season, Detmers reflected, came over a two-start period in August in which he gave up 14 combined runs. He showed gradual, tangible improvement in the seven starts that followed, including Tuesday’s, with a 2.41 ERA in that span.
Angels manager Phil Nevin said Detmers’ improvement in his last seven starts coincided with his change in command and being able to efficiently use his four pitches.
“Really something for him to build off of going into this winter and in spring training,” Nevin said.
Rangers’ manager Bruce Bochy was also mentally prepared for his hitters to have a tough night at the plate. The last time Bochy and the Rangers saw Detmers, he was no-hitting them into the eighth inning of a game in Arlington on Aug. 16.
“We’ve had a tough time against them,” Bochy said after Tuesday’s game.
Detmers, who is 24 years old, figures to be a mainstay in the Angels rotation for the foreseeable future.
Considering the 2023 season was his third year as a professional baseball player — he was drafted in 2020 and then bumped to the major leagues in 2021 after playing just 13 games in the minors — Detmers’ 2023 finish still holds much promise for 2024.
Read more: MLB awards races: Will Dodgers' manager Dave Roberts again be overlooked?
“My plan is to keep doing what I’ve been doing the last four or five starts,” Detmers said, “throwing more changeups and just keeping everybody off balance. But going into the offseason, I’m going to work on… the pitches, see if I can get them a little bit better, a little more consistent.
“We got a really good group of guys in the bullpen and starting,” he added later. “There’s a little bit of a chip on our shoulder for next year.”
This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
