Angels may have to accept a harsh reality regarding a once-promising young hurler

The Angels might have to come to grips with the reality that is staring them in the face. Despite numerous chances to tap into his immense potential, 25-year-old southpaw Reid Detmers has never been able to consistently put it all together for more than brief stretches.

Detmers entered the year on thin ice. The former first-round pick out of Louisville was supposed to be a rotation fixture, and for a brief moment in time, it appeared that would be the case. After a rough debut in which he made five starts and pitched to a 7.71 ERA at the tender age of 21, Detmers came back the following year and posted a 3.77 ERA in 129 innings in 2022.

However, since then, he's done nothing but take steps backwards. 2023 saw him reach a career-high in innings pitched with 148.2, but that corresponded with his ERA jumping to 4.48 as he became prone to giving up the long ball.

Hoping to turn things around in 2024, the season was an unmitigated disaster for Detmers, as he failed to perform on either end of his mid-season demotion to Triple-A Salt Lake while also struggling while toiling in the minors.

Still, the Angels had hoped he could turn it around, pitting him against fellow youngster Jack Kochanowicz in a hard-fought battle for the fifth starter role that Detmers ultimately lost. As he's wont to do, Detmers showed flashes coming out of the pen earlier this season, posting a 2.57 ERA and 3.06 FIP over his first nine appearances and 14 innings of work.

Reid Detmers' latest struggles should prove to the Angels that he cannot be trusted to figure it out

Since then, things have not gone so well, and the implosions that had been commonplace for Detmers have once again reared their ugly head. Since April 30th, he's made three appearances but managed just one out, allowing 11 hits and 12 earned runs over that time period, good for an ERA of 324.00. Yes, his ERA over the past week is over 300!

His ERA now sits at 10.05 on the season. His strikeouts are down, his walks are up, and eventhough his home run rate is more manageable than last year, he looks completely lost on the mound.

We've heard before how Detmers knows exactly what he needs to do to find stability in his performance, but we've never actually seen it. Now, just two months shy of his 26th birthday, he's running out of excuses and his promises to turn it around ring hollow.

Not all of the peripherals are terrible. Detmers has gotten more groundballs than ever before, with a groundball rate of 46.8%, a marked improvement from his career average of 37.1%. His FIP (4.21) and expected-ERA (4.22) aren't spectacular, but they paint a much rosier picture of his performance so far in 2025.

Still, even if this recent stretch of extreme struggles isn't indicative of his future performance, he is still below average in most categories. His average exit velocity of 90.6 miles per hour ranks in the 28th percentile, his walk rate and chase rate have both been 50th percentile performances, and his expected batting average of .270 ranks in just the 25th percentile.

With two options remaining, the Angels could send him back down to Triple-A for another reset. WIth that said, the definitiion of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. When it comes to Reid Detmers, it is time the Halos face that harsh reality and accept him for what he is, another pitching bust.

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