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Reid Detmers

West Notes: Angels, Detmers, Mariners, Lewis, Elias, Rockies, Freeland

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Reid Detmers will open the season in the Angels six-man rotation, per Jeff Fletcher of the SoCal News group (via Twitter). Detmers made five starts in 2021 to mixed results, but the Angels have high hopes that the 22-year-old will develop into a rotation staple. For now, he’ll join Shohei Ohtani, Noah Syndergaard, Patrick Sandoval, Michael Lorenzen, and Jose Suarez in manager Joe Maddon’s rotation. There’s a fair amount of injury concern in the group, but it’s also one of the higher ceiling units the Angels have started with in the rotation during Maddon’s tenure. As with most seasons, the Angels hopes for contention will hinge largely on the success of this group. Elsewhere out west…

  • Neither Kyle Lewis nor Roenis Elias will be ready to make the Mariners’ opening day roster, per Ryan Divish of the Seattle Times. Elias is coming back from Tommy John surgery, and he hasn’t appeared in a big league game since September of the 2019 season. As for Lewis, the Mariners are taking their time bringing back the 2019 Rookie of the Year. The next step for Lewis’ rehab will be to begin serving as the designated hitter in minor league games, notes Divish, with manager Scott Servais pegging Lewis’ return as being about a month behind the rest of the squad.
  • Kyle Freeland will get the ball on opening day for the Rockies, per Danielle Allentuck of The Gazette. It will be his second time as the Rockies’ opening day starter, having done so in 2019 as well. No Rockies starter has ever made three opening day starts for the club. The 28-year-old has put together 191 1/3 innings of 4.33 ERA/4.64 FIP over the past two seasons after a disastrous 2019 campaign.

Roster Moves: Contreras, Lopez, Detmers, Guerra, Quintana

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Catching on some of the roster moves that took place before today’s slate of games…

  • The Cubs placed Willson Contreras on the 10-day injured list due to right hip inflammation, officially ending the veteran catcher’s season.  In corresponding moves, Alfonso Rivas was moved from the 10-day IL to the 60-day IL, and catcher Tyler Payne made his MLB debut today after his contract selected from Triple-A.  One of the few veterans remaining in the wake of the Cubs’ deadline fire sale, Contreras might be either a trade candidate or an extension candidate this winter, depending on the club’s next direction.  Contreras finishes the year hitting .237/.340/.438 with 21 home runs over 483 PA.
  • The Marlins activated Pablo Lopez from the 60-day injured list, as Lopez tossed 1 2/3 innings in an abbreviated start during Miami’s 5-4 win over the Phillies today.  It marked Lopez’s first game since July 11, as a right rotator cuff strain interrupted a very impressive season for the 25-year-old.  Lopez posted a 3.03 ERA and above-average strikeout and walk rates over his first 101 innings, setting himself up for 2022 as yet another quality young arm in the Marlins rotation. To make room for Lopez’s return to the roster, Miami placed left-hander Sean Guenther on the 10-day IL and moved first baseman Jesus Aguilar to the 60-day IL.
  • The Angels called up left-hander Reid Detmers to start today’s contest with the Mariners, and also activated righty Junior Guerra from the 10-day IL.  Outfielder Taylor Ward heads to the 10-day IL with a right adductor strain while southpaw Jhonathan Diaz was optioned to Triple-A.
  • Jose Quintana cleared waivers and outrighted to the Giants’ Triple-A affiliate.  San Francisco designated Quintana for assignment earlier this week, after the veteran left-hander posted a 4.66 ERA over 9 2/3 innings with the Giants.  Quintana was claimed off waivers from the Angels at the end of August, as the Giants looked to add some lefty depth down the stretch.

Angels Select AJ Ramos

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The Angels announced they’ve selected veteran reliever AJ Ramos to the big league roster and recalled bullpen mate James Hoyt from Triple-A Salt Lake. José Marte and Sam Selman were optioned to clear active roster space. Los Angeles also reinstated rookie southpaw Reid Detmers from the COVID-19 injured list and optioned him to Salt Lake.

Selecting Ramos and activating Detmers required opening a pair of spots on the 40-man roster. To do so, the Angels transferred Justin Upton and Dylan Bundy from the 10-day to the 60-day injured list.

Ramos is in the majors for the first time this season. He’s best known for his early-career days with the Marlins, with whom he began his big league career in 2012. The right-hander was electric from essentially the outset of his career, ascending to the closer’s role within a couple seasons and earning an All-Star nod in 2016. Over his first four-plus MLB seasons, Ramos posted a 2.66 ERA/3.15 FIP across 287 2/3 innings of relief.

Halfway through the 2017 season, Miami traded Ramos to the division-rival Mets. He had a decent year but fell off a bit from his previous pace. Ramos struggled badly through the first couple months of 2018 before it was revealed he’d suffered a labrum tear in his shoulder that necessitated surgery.

That procedure kept Ramos out of action for more than two calendar years. He began a comeback attempt in 2020 and landed successive minor league deals with the Dodgers and Cubs. While neither of those stops resulted in a major league opportunity, Ramos did get back to the bigs late in the year with the Rockies. He made three appearances with Colorado last September, his first MLB action in 28 months, and signed a minor league deal with the Angels over the offseason.

Ramos has spent the entire season with Salt Lake. The 35-year-old has avoided the injured list and logged 53 innings over 42 outings, pitching to a 5.26 ERA in a very hitter-friendly environment. Ramos has been extremely fly ball prone and has issued a few too many walks, but he’s continued to miss plenty of bats. He’s punched out 31% of opposing hitters on the strength of a big 15.4% swinging strike rate, and the Angels will give him a late chance to demonstrate his form against big league opponents.

As with last season’s stint in Colorado, it’s possible Ramos’ stay with the Angels will be quite brief. He’s scheduled to hit free agency again at the end of the season. The late-season look will allow him to showcase his current caliber of stuff before he reaches the open market.

The IL transfers officially bring Upton’s and Bundy’s seasons to a close. It was a third consecutive down year for Upton, who hit .211/.296/.409 with seventeen homers over 362 plate appearances. His campaign ends prematurely because of a right lumbar strain.

Upton will return to Anaheim next season on a $28MM salary, the final year of his deal. The Angels have youngsters Jo Adell and Brandon Marsh at the big league level, and Mike Trout is expected back at full strength. It’s possible Upton’s role is curtailed a bit moving forward, although he still brings enough right-handed pop to contribute in a part-time capacity.

It’s an especially disappointing end for Bundy, who expressed confidence two weeks ago that he’d make it back to the mound before the end of the year. Instead, his final five weeks will be wiped out by a shoulder strain. It ends a season in which Bundy threw 90 2/3 innings of 6.08 ERA ball, a massive drop-off from a 2020 season in which he picked up some down-ballot Cy Young support.

The career-worst showing couldn’t have come at a worse time for Bundy, who’ll hit free agency for the first time this winter. It’s possible the 28-year-old will be limited to a one-year deal in an attempt to rebuild his value before re-testing the market during the 2022-23 offseason.

Angels Select Jake Petricka, Elvis Peguero

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The Angels announced they’ve selected the contracts of right-handers Jake Petricka and Elvis Peguero. Infielder Kean Wong has also been recalled from Triple-A Salt Lake. In corresponding moves, right-hander Dylan Bundy is headed to the 10-day injured list with a right shoulder strain, while hurlers Reid Detmers and Austin Warren have been placed on the COVID-19 IL.

Petricka’s back in the majors for the first time since 2019. A productive set-up man early in his career with the White Sox, Petricka bounced around the league in journeyman fashion after falling on harder times starting in 2016. He pitched for the Blue Jays in 2018 and had a brief stint with the Brewers the following season. Petricka re-signed with the Jays last season and spent the year at their alternate training site, but he never got a big league call. After beginning the 2021 campaign in the independent Atlantic League, Petricka hooked on with the Angels in early June.

Assigned to Salt Lake after signing, Petricka performed well in a hitter-friendly setting to earn his way back to the majors. He’s worked 31 2/3 innings across 19 games as a multi-inning relief option, posting a 3.69 ERA. Petricka’s 23.4% strikeout rate in the minors is around average, but he’s induced ground-balls at a huge 53.8% clip and thrown plenty of strikes (7.3% walk percentage).

While Petricka’s soon to appear in his eighth big league season, this is Peguero’s first call. The 24-year-old was one of two players Los Angeles picked up from the Yankees for left-hander Andrew Heaney at the trade deadline. Peguero, who has worked exclusively in relief this season, has rather remarkably traversed four levels. He began the year with New York’s High-A affiliate, where he tossed 32 1/3 innings of 2.51 ERA ball to earn a promotion to Double-A. Peguero logged 17 2/3 frames at that level, then made a one-game cameo in Salt Lake before being bumped up to the big leagues. Between all three levels, he has a 2.79 ERA with a big 31.8% strikeout rate and a solid 8.5% walk rate.

Petricka and Peguero are coming up as COVID replacements. Under MLB’s 2021 health and safety protocols, they can be removed from the 40-man roster and returned to the minors without exposure to waivers whenever players come off the COVID IL. There’s no indication whether Detmers and/or Warren have tested positive at this point.

Bundy’s IL placement is the continuation of a disastrous season for the 28-year-old. He entered the season with high expectations after posting a 3.29 ERA in last year’s truncated campaign. His strikeout rate has dropped from a strong 27% to a below-average 21.2%, and his walk rate is up a couple percentage points. He’s also been killed by the home run ball, serving up 20 longballs in 90 2/3 innings en route to a 6.06 ERA.

The extent of Bundy’s underperformance briefly got him relegated to the bullpen, although he’d returned to the starting staff in late July. He was pulled from his start against the Orioles last night in the second inning with the injury that today landed him on the shelf. Bundy’s fastball was averaging just 87.6 MPH, per Brooks Baseball, his worst velocity of the season and the continuation of a worrying trend in that regard over the past few weeks. The Angels didn’t provide a timetable for Bundy’s return. With just over five weeks left in the season, though, it wouldn’t be a surprise if this ends his 2021 campaign.

The career-worst performance couldn’t have come at a worse time for Bundy, who will reach free agency for the first time this winter. Had he come anywhere close to replicating his 2020 production, he’d have been one of the most appealing arms on the market — especially given his youth. Instead, it seems as if he might have to settle for a one-year deal in hopes of rebuilding his value and targeting a return to form in advance of the 2022-23 offseason.

Angels Promote Reid Detmers

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TODAY: The Angels officially announced that Detmers’ contract has been selected.  Infielder Kean Wong was also recalled from Triple-A, while James Hoyt and Luis Rengifo were optioned to Triple-A yesterday to open up roster space.

JULY 30, 8:10PM: Cobb is indeed going on the IL, according to the team. But it’s because of “right wrist inflammation” and not a blister.

7:19 PM: The Angels are going to promote top pitching prospect Reid Detmers to make his major league debut, according to Rhett Bollinger of MLB.com. Although Bollinger originally said the debut would be Saturday, the club later announced a change of plans, with Detmers starting on Sunday. Detmers is not on the 40-man roster but a corresponding move may not be necessary since the Angels subtracted from their roster with the earlier trades of Andrew Heaney and Tony Watson. Detmers, a 22-year-old lefty, is the Angels #2 prospect, according to MLB Pipeline, behind only Brandon Marsh, who was himself recently promoted.

This marks a fast jaunt through the minors for Detmers, having been drafted just over a year ago. He was the 10th overall selection in the 2020 draft and is widely-considered one of the top prospects in the game. He is currently ranked #24 at Baseball America, #57 at MLB Pipeline and #39 at FanGraphs. The Angels started Detmers in Double-A earlier this year and saw him flourish immediately. In 54 innings, he had a 3.50 ERA with an amazing strikeout rate of 43.1% and a stingy walk rate of just 3%. After being promoted to Triple-A, Detmers made one start, throwing six shutout innings with nine strikeouts and no walks. The Angels obviously felt they had seen enough to fast-track him to the majors.

Detmers will step into a six-man rotation that has struggled thus far this season. Despite some excellent contributions from Shohei Ohtani, Patrick Sandoval and Alex Cobb, the rotation ERA currently sits at 4.82 on the year, which puts them 21st in the league. That’s thanks to some woeful performances from Griffin Canning, Jose Quintana and Dylan Bundy.

Quintana and Bundy have also been making appearances out of the bullpen lately. But it’s unclear how the rotation will proceed in the short-term. Ohtani might have his start pushed back after recently getting hit on the thumb of his throwing hand by a foul ball, notes Bollinger. Additionally, Alex Cobb’s blister issue has persisted enough that he may hit the IL, according to Jack Harris of the Los Angeles Times.

Angels Add Reid Detmers To 60-Player Pool

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The Angels are adding left-hander Reid Detmers, the tenth overall pick in last month’s draft, to their 60-man player pool, general manager Billy Eppler told reporters today (Twitter link via MLB.com’s Rhett Bollinger). That brings their player pool up to a total of 56.

Detmers, 20, was regarded as one of the most polished arms in this year’s draft class and is considered by many to be a potentially fast mover. He boasted a ridiculous 215-to-39 K/BB ratio in 135 1/3 innings with Louisville from 2019-20 and is lauded for plus command that’s well ahead of most of his draft peers. Detmers doesn’t have the power fastball and arsenal of plus secondary pitches to be considered a future ace, but most scouting reports tab him as a strong bet to be a mid-rotation arm. Detmers’ curveball, in particular, is a formidable offering that FanGraphs’ Eric Longenhagen called “arguably the best pitch in the entire draft.”

Obviously, Detmers being added to the Angels’ pool doesn’t mean that he’ll jump right into the big leagues. Most teams are including their most promising prospects on their 60-player pools in order to afford them some developmental opportunities at alternate camp sites. Players not on the active Major League roster will continue to train together and participate in simulated games with instruction from club personnel and minor league coaches, so it’s understandable that the Angels want Detmers to have that benefit.

Still, given the polished nature of his arm and the seemingly perennial injuries that plague the Angels pitching staff, it’s hard not to wonder whether Detmers could skyrocket to the big leagues and debut just months after being drafted.

Angels Sign First-Rounder Reid Detmers

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The Angels have reached an agreement with tenth overall pick Reid Detmers, MLB Pipeline’s Jim Callis reports (Twitter link).  The left-hander signed for $4.67MM, which is slightly below the $4,739,900 slot price attached to the tenth pick.  Callis adds that Detmers will be added to Los Angeles’ 60-man player pool.

After Asa Lacy, Detmers was the consensus choice as the best southpaw in this year’s draft class, with Baseball America, Keith Law, and MLB Pipeline all ranking Detmers as eighth-best player overall in their pre-draft rankings.  (Fangraphs wasn’t far behind in putting Detmers tenth, in his eventual landing spot.)  “Polished” is the common word in many of these scouting reports, as Detmers has displayed both excellent command and a knack for pounding the strike zone during his time at Louisville.  The lefty has been able to rack up the strikeouts thanks to both a fastball in the 90-94 mph range and a curveball that Fangraphs describes as “arguably the best pitch in the entire draft.”

With Detmers now in the fold, the Angels have signed all four players from their 2020 draft class while remaining under their $6,397,100 spending pool limit.  The Halos only had four picks in the five-round draft since they had to give up a pick as compensation for signing Anthony Rendon (a qualifying offer-rejecting free agent) this offseason.

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