Angels News: First round draft pick Reid Detmers officially signs

The Los Angeles Angels have officially finished signing all of their 2020 draft class, with first-round pick Reid Detmers becoming the last to sign.

When the Los Angeles Angels selected Reid Detmers with the 10th overall pick in the 2020 MLB Draft, the anticipation was that the lefty would make the climb to the major league roster quickly. The Louisville product made the first step toward that goal on Sunday when he officially signed with the club.

The 10th overall pick had a designated slot value of $4,739,900, but according to Jim Callis of MLB.com, Detmers and the Angels have agreed to a bonus of $4.67 million.

The signing of Detmers wraps up the 2020 MLB Draft class for the Angels, with the team previously coming to terms with third-round selection David Calabrese, fourth-round pick Werner Blakely, and fifth-rounder Adam Seminaris. The Angels forfeited their second-round pick as compensation for their free-agent signing of third baseman Anthony Rendon.

Widely regarded as the most major league ready pitcher in the draft, Detmers came to the Angels as a decorated arm during his three seasons at Louisville. While the left-hander isn’t going to light up radar guns, he gets by with low-90s heat, a plus-plus-curveball, and a solid change-up. He can spot any of the three offerings for strikes and induces swings and misses through the change of speeds and pinpoint control. In 191 innings of work in college, Detmers fanned hitters at a clip of 13.4 K/9. He closed out his ACC career with 48 strikeouts in his 22 innings before COVID-19 canceled the 2020 college season.

There is no question that the Angels were happy to find Detmers falling to them at the 10th overall pick. Many pundits felt that Detmers, with his advanced polish, could become the first college arm to appear at the MLB level in 2020. As Callis mentioned in his tweet, the expectation is that Detmers will be added to the team’s 60-man player pool, giving him the opportunity not only to pitch and get work in 2020 but also the potential for the Angels to call him up this season as well. However, it should be noted that he was not listed among the 55 players the team originally announced as part of their summer camp squad. There are still five slots available though, so Detmers can still be added to the group.

Who are the candidates for the Angels’ six-man rotation?

Regardless, the team and the fans should be excited about the possibility of seeing Reid Detmers in 2020 and beyond.