SALT LAKE CITY — It took Reid Detmers one week after his demotion to Triple A to fully accept his circumstances.
It had only been a little more than a month since the lefty was considered the Los Angeles Angels’ ace. Through the first four starts, he looked like the pitcher everyone believed he could become. But that month-plus might as well have been an eternity. Everything changed.
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He posted an 8.93 ERA over his last eight starts and went from a potential All-Star to being on the outside looking in.
His demotion was a shock to the system. Once Detmers arrived at the level he’d already mastered years prior, it took time to come to terms that he needed a reset.
“I came down here to get my fastball command back, and throw all four pitches in the zone,” Detmers told The Athletic.
“And so far, I’ve been doing that. Everything feels good. I feel like I’m back to normal, or my mindset is back to normal. And I feel like my old self again. I feel good. I’ve just got to keep going out there and showing it.”
By all accounts, Detmers has embraced this situation. He’s been amenable to what’s been asked of him and is focused on improving daily.
He believes he’s ready to be called back up. The Angels haven’t indicated, at least thus far, that they agree. His work in Triple A has not been centered around mechanics. It’s more about locating his fastball and slider in ways that make him less predictable.
He’s posted a 5.70 ERA over 30 innings in the notoriously hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League. There have been stretches of games where he’s appeared dominant — generating 24 whiffs in his last appearance. He’s also allowed some crooked innings and given up eight homers.
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“I wouldn’t say any of it was mechanical, besides maybe finishing pitches. I haven’t worked on mechanics one time since I’ve been here, besides finishing my pitches. It’s more the mindset and hitting the locations, which has been awesome. We haven’t talked about mechanics.”
The 24-year-old said he keeps in regular contact with Patrick Sandoval and Griffin Canning, his two closest friends on the Angels. He said pitching coach Barry Enright has checked in with him a couple of times and bench coach Ray Montgomery did once as well.
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He hasn’t heard from Angels manager Ron Washington or GM Perry Minasian.
“Yes and no,” Detmers said when asked if he was surprised to not hear from those organizational leaders. “Would it be nice? Yeah. But I know they have a lot of stuff going on. I don’t really know.”
When asked if he felt the Angels still believed in his abilities and still had a plan for him, he paused for several seconds.
“I’d like to think so, but honestly I have no idea,” Detmers said. “I don’t know.
“I’m not too worried about it, to be honest with you. My job is to get outs. And whatever they want to do, that’s what they’re going to do.”
Minasian declined an interview request for this story.
Salt Lake Bees pitching coach Shane Loux said the team gave him several days once he got to Triple A to get his bearings. Detmers ate by himself and was more detached during that time, Loux said. But they eventually saw him come out of his shell.
The staff implemented a drill where the catcher sets up in unique spots behind, next to and all around the plate for his bullpens. The purpose, Loux said, is to reinforce that he’s capable of hitting his spots, no matter where it is.
They’re specifically working on Detmers throwing his fastball lower in the zone as a way to make his changeup up in the zone, as well as his other pitches, more deceptive and effective. Detmers said big leaguers were “sitting on fastballs up” and that needs to change.
He added that he’s reverted to his old slider grip. He’d switched to a conventional slider grip before the season but didn’t think it was as effective. The Angels don’t want to call him up until he’s comfortable with all the work he’s done.
“What we’re doing is trying to free up his head space,” Loux said. “His delivery is so simple and so tight that there’s not a lot to talk about anyway. ‘What does feel like to get the ball down,’ and, ‘What does it look like visually?’ What can we do physically to do it, but not mechanics.”
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Detmers said he still regularly watches the Angels. He’s invested in being a part of the team’s future — and hasn’t considered the possibility of being traded before the deadline.
He got sidetracked in this interview, talking about the possibility of a playoff push in 2024 when Mike Trout and Anthony Rendon come back, with three months still left in the season.
“We can make a push for it,” Detmers said. “Like why not? We’re like nine games back? Ten games back? You could easily come back. I want to be a part of the team to hopefully make the playoffs.”
Right now, however, that’s taking place in a completely separate world. Thus far, Washington has said the reports aren’t good enough to call him up. That the people evaluating him in Triple A don’t think he’s ready. Once they do, Washington said, he’ll be in the majors again.
Loux — who works alongside minor-league pitching coordinator Dom Chiti — placed the onus for that decision on those above him.
Regardless of who is making the decision, it will ultimately come down to Detmers. The Angels have needs in the rotation. And it’ll be on him to force their hand.
“I have no doubt in my mind that I’ll be back to who I was at the beginning of the year,” Detmers said. “It was one bad month. Your career is not going to go south, unless you let it go that quickly. My mindset is there. I feel good. I want to be called back up, and help the team.”
(Photo: Stephen Brashear / Getty Images)
