3 Angels players who will take a step forward next year, 2 who won't

Reid Detmers has a lot of room to grow

The Angels hoped Reid Detmers would take a leap in 2023 after a strong year in 2022. It's safe to say that did not happen. The southpaw had a 4.48 ERA in 28 starts and 148.2 innings pitched. It was encouraging to see him stay healthy for a full season and take the ball eveery sixth day, but Detmers showed some concerning inconsistency when he did take the ball. You never quite knew what you were going to get out of him.

While the inconsistency was frustrating, the makings of a really good pitcher are there. Detmers fanned 168 batters in 148.2 innings of work this year, striking out 10.2 batters per nine. If he had enough innings to qualify, he'd be ninth in the majors in that category behind a whole bunch of established studs. He's growing as a high-end strikeout pitcher and is just 24 years old.

We saw plenty of individual games where Detmers was at the top of his game. Remember that time he went toe-to-toe with his idol Clayton Kershaw? Detmers shut the high-powered Dodgers out through seven dominant frames, only to watch his counterpart do the same.

What about his start in Texas? Detmers held the Rangers hitless one out into the eighth inning despite once again pitching under pressure with little run support. He faced them in his final start of the year as well and allowed one run in seven innings. Yeah, the same Rangers that are in the ALCS right now.

He has the stuff to take the leap. Let's see him do it.