3 young Angels pitchers with burning questions to answer in 2025

Southpaw Reid Detmers is running out of chances with the Angels

While the questions surrounding Soriano and Joyce are important, the mysteries surrounding them may not cause 2025 to be a make-or-break season for these two talented young arms. The same cannot be said for Reid Detmers.

Drafted in the first round back in 2020, last season was supposed to be Detmers' coming out party after years of anticipation. His 2022 and 2023 performances showed promise but ultimately lacked consistency, something that the Angels were hoping he could rectify in 2024. In a way, he accomplished that as he was consistently bad.

Despite the high hopes, Detmers fell flat on his face posting a 6.70 ERA in just 87.1 innings. He was demoted to AAA Salt Lake where he also struggled, posting a 5.54 ERA over three months, before resurfacing and facing more struggles in the final days of the big league season.

Confidence and trusting his electric stuff have been issues for Detmers, whose lack of execution has led to command issues that cause melt-down innings. Those struggles compound and he can often find himself spinning out at the first sign of trouble.

Despite that, Detmers has been given the opportunity to fight for a rotation spot, and is one of two chief candidates alongside Jack Kochanowicz this spring. The battle has been hard-fought with the soon-to-be 26-year-old Detmers putting up good numbers, but ultimately being outdueled by Kochanowicz's otherworldly performance to date.

Wherever Detmers lands, be it AAA, the bullpen, or the starting rotation, he's going to have to answer the questions about the mental aspect of his game. It's not the stuff that is in doubt, but his ability to trust it and execute his pitches, especially during times of adversity.

If he's able to do that, he'll get a new lease on life with the Halos. If not, the team may very well decide they've seen enough and remove him from their future plans.

All three youngsters have serious questions they need to answer if the Angels are going to be competitive this season, but for Detmers the stakes are even higher as his Angels' tenure and perhaps his career hang in the balance.

More LA Angels News from Halo Hangout