LA Angels: Young arms set to lead Halos’ 2022 rotation

Headlining this group is the Angels’ top pitching prospect Reid Detmers (21).

After three years of dominating the ACC as part of the Louisville Cardinals, the Angels drafted the lefty 10th overall in 2020, subsequently fast tracking his path to majors by starting him off in Double-A Rocket City.

Though he may be raw, Detmers might just evolve into a bona fide ace.

Showcasing elite command of his mid-90s fastball and wicked curveball, Detmers has the potential to be one of the deadliest strikeout threats in Major League Baseball.

In his last two starts, he went six innings each and set career highs in strikeouts with 14 on June 20 and a whopping 16 on the 26th.

Granted, he’s also had trouble with walks and the longball this season.

Case in point, he walked three in just 2.2 innings against Birmingham back in May 30, and surrendered three home runs in his 16-strikeout game. These issues are the primary contributing factor in Detmers’ unspectacular 3.95 ERA this season.

Worry not, however, as these problems should go away with time. After all, Detmers does only have nine professional starts under his belt.

Whether or not he can truly get these problems under control may be the difference in Detmers topping out as a middle of the rotation guy, or a true top-end starter.

While there is still a chance that he might get a cup of coffee with the team as a reliever by the end of this year, 2022 is the real target for Detmers to really make his mark.

Speaking of getting a preview of the big leagues as a reliever, that’s exactly what the team did with Chris Rodriguez (22) earlier this year.

A surprise member of the Opening Day bullpen, Chris Rodriguez established himself as one of the team’s best.

Armed with a high-90s fastball and an almost unhittable curveball, he started his career by firing two scoreless innings in his April 2 debut. He’s since settled into his role as the long man out of the pen, later throwing 3.1 scoreless innings against Texas on April 28.

Overall, he owns a 3.66 ERA this season.

While he may not be the strikeout threat that Detmers is, ‘CRod’ still has the potential to be above average in this regard. With 20 K’s in 19.2 innings, the stuff is clearly there for him to take things to the next level in the coming years.

That said, it hasn’t all been smooth sailing for Rodriguez so far. Like Detmers, walks have been the enemy for much of his career. This year hasn’t been any different as he’s already walked 11 batters.

Furthermore, a bout with right shoulder soreness wiped out most of his May. Though he returned just fine in June, his time on the IL was unfortunate, nonetheless.

Some fans might be a little upset at the Halos’ decision to send Rodriguez back down to Double-A, presumably for the rest of the season, but this is the right call. For one thing, this will definitely help him to develop more and hammer out some of his control issues.

More importantly, though, is that this move shows a clear willingness from the organization to have Rodriguez remain a starter rather than a reliever. Sure, this move doesn’t bode well for the team’s hopes regarding the rest of this season, but it does show a clear desire to improve things for next year.

Rounding out this group of youngsters are a couple of guys who’ve already appeared in the rotation in years past: Jose Suarez (23) and Jaime Barria (24).

Jose Suarez and Jaime Barria are both trending upwards in 2021.

While Detmers and Rodriguez are almost guaranteed spots in the rotation next year, these two are on more tenuous footing and can go either way.

Suarez was originally signed as a 17-year-old out of Venezuela and had a meteoric rise through the system. There was a lot of hope for him when he made his major league debut in 2019, but sadly things haven’t gone as planned for him.

In his first two years in the majors, Suarez was hammered to the tune of a 7.99 ERA in 21 appearances (17 starts). Scattershot aim led to a propensity for giving up a lot of walks and home runs.

Thankfully, things are getting much better for the southpaw.

Since being called up mid-May, he’s been LA’s best reliever. With a 2.05 ERA in 22 innings stretched over eight outings (as of June 28th, 2021), he’s taken over nicely as the team’s new long reliever. If he continues to improve like this, he might just get another chance in the rotation next year.

In a similar vein, Barria is also looking better after an uneven start to his career. The Panamanian was signed as a 16-year-old back in 2013 and had a similarly quick rise through the minors.

Unlike Suarez, however, Barria was amazing in his first year, putting up a 3.41 ERA in 26 starts.

Unfortunately, he followed this up with a 6.42 ERA in 2019. A bounce-back performance in 2020 (3.62 ERA) was a nice refresher and, after a rough start to 2021, is heading in the right direction.

After allowing seven runs over two innings in his first relief appearance, he’s been up and down to Triple-A for the rest of the season. He’s performing well enough in Salt Lake, though he’s yet to eclipse six innings in a start this year.

It was his outing against the Cleveland Indians on May 18, however, that gives the most hope for his future.

Tossing four shutout innings in relief against a potential playoff team is possibly a good indicator of future success for Barria. Whether that’s as part of the rotation or bullpen remains to be seen.

Regardless, however things may shake out in the coming months, there’s a lot of hope for the future of the Angels’ starting rotation. If even just two of these young guys steps up in a big way, LA might be in for one of its best rotations in years.