Angels report cards: Grading Reid Detmers' dissatisfying 2023 season

The Los Angeles Angels had hoped their starting rotation would be a strength in the 2023 season. The staff excelled in the second half of the 2022 season and had several young guys looking to take another step. Reid Detmers was no exception to that.

Detmers had some great moments last season, throwing a no-hitter and establishing himself as a clear member of the staff. He came into this season with a lot of promise looking to build off an impressive first full MLB season, but things really didn't go as planned.

From the jump, it felt like Detmers never quite settled in. He made some strides but didn't show enough positive attributes in what was a disappointing 2023 season for him and the team.

Reid Detmers deserves a C+ for his 2023 season

The Angels had hoped Detmers would take the next step into a reliable starter behind Shohei Ohtani. They had every reason to after he had a 3.77 ERA in his 25 starts last season and he had a 3.32 ERA in his 12 second half starts. At age 23, expecting some more progression makes a ton of sense. That just never quite happened.

While Detmers never took the step the Angels hoped for, there were some positives that came from his season. First, he was one of just two Angels who was on the active roster from Opening Day through the end of the season. Carlos Estevez was the other. Second, he saw a major uptick in strikeouts from 22.6% last season to 26.1% this season. Those are great signs, but his overall numbers weren't anything special.

Detmers finished his season with a 4.48 ERA in 148.2 innings pitched. He saw an uptick in walks, hits, and home runs allowed which is not what you want. Additionally, Detmers failed to complete five innings in his starts nine times. Being unable to go five in approximately a third of his starts is not a good look. Whether it was elevated pitch counts or just complete ineffectiveness, there were way too many starts where Detmers simply didn't give length.

Detmers had some starts that made you open your eyes like when he carried a no-hitter into the eighth inning in Texas or when he shut the Dodgers out through seven at home. There were other starts where you wonder what happened like when he allowed seven runs at Dodger Stadium or when he lasted just 2.1 innings in Houston.

The stuff is there for Detmers to be really good. You can even see that in the numbers with his elevated strikeout rate. The inconsistency is what's really troublesome for this young left-hander and the Angels will hope he can put together a better year in 2024.