Reid

Detmers

Angels manager Ron Washington made it official that Jack Kochanowicz has locked up the fifth spot in the rotation with Detmers moving to relief. It’s a substantial hit to his immediate fantasy appeal. The 25-year-old southpaw struck out 17 over 19 1/3 innings this spring in Cactus League action. His stuff should play up in shorter relief outings, but we’re not anticipating him generating enough volume to make an impact in shallow mixed leagues.

That seems like the right call. Washington still wouldn’t confirm whether Reid Detmers or Jack Kochanowicz would open up as the fifth starter. Washington left the door open for Anderson to start games in the future.

The runs all came in the eighth, in which Detmers followed a one-out walk by giving up three straight singles, the only hits he allowed in his outing. That does rather sum Detmers up, though. The Angels are still weighing whether to make him their fifth starter. His 2.79 ERA spring ERA is worthy, but it’s clear the team just doesn’t have much faith in him.

He struck out two and handed out a staggering five free passes. The rough outing does little to aid Silseth’s chances of beating out Reid Detmers and Jack Kochanowicz for the final spot in the Angels’ rotation. The 24-year-old has shown flashes of potential in the past, but it’s never come together at the highest level since breaking into the big leagues back in 2022. He can be safely ignored in most fantasy formats at this juncture, especially given the overabundance of intriguing late-round arms with much higher ceilings.

Detmers punched out four hitters on the afternoon and didn’t walk a batter. He allowed a run in the seventh inning on an RBI double by Mike Brosseau, then the Padres added an unearned run against him in the ninth. The 25-year-old southpaw seems like he has done enough to lock up a spot in the Halos’ Opening Day rotation this spring, posting a 2.30 ERA, 1.02 WHIP and a 12/2 K/BB ratio across 15 2/3 innings.

Detmers is being forced to compete for a rotation spot this spring, which is fair. Still, it’s hard to imagine the Angels not giving him one after declining to trade him at either the deadline last year or over the winter. Detmers has a 2.31 ERA in 11 2/3 innings this spring, so he’s making a strong case, regardless.

We didn’t get any Statcast data to dissect, but Detmers managed to hang in there against a Los Angeles lineup that featured a handful of big-league regulars. He finished with one strikeout and didn’t issue a walk. The 25-year-old southpaw has allowed three runs with four strikeouts and two walks over 7 2/3 innings (three starts) this spring in Cactus League action. He’s in the top-120 range among starting pitchers for fantasy purposes, but will easily outperforming that draft position if he’s consistently missing bats with his slider.

Detmers punched out two batters in the ballgame. He got himself into a bit of a jam in the first inning, allowing a one-out single to Andrew Vaughn and a two-out walk to Miguel Vargas, but he rallied to get Joey Gallo on a ground out to third to end the threat. Detmers’ only strikeout on the day came on a swinging third by Jacob Amaya in the second inning. It sounds like he’s locked into the Opening Day rotation, but with Caden Dana charging hard he’s going to have to pitch well early on to hold onto that spot.

The 25-year-old hurler struck out one batter on the day and didn’t issue a free pass. The damage done against him came in the opening inning as Tyler Freeman smacked a run-scoring double and then scored on an RBI single by Bo Naylor. Detmers generated just one swing and miss on 37 pitches in the contest, posting a cringe-inducing CSW of only 16 percent. The encouraging news, is that his velocity was up 0.4 mph from his average from the 2024 season, so perhaps there’s still a glimmer of hope here.

The Angels assured Kyle Hendricks that he would have a spot in the rotation when they signed him this offseason. That means four rotation spots are locked up with Hendricks, Tyler Anderson, Yusei Kikuchi, and Jose Soriano, and everybody else is competing for one spot. Kochanowicz has an interesting case for the job since he posted a 2.78 ERA in his final nine starts of the season and pounds the strike zone with a good sinker that induces plenty of groundballs. However, Blum gives Detmers the leg up in the competition but acknowledges that the left-hander “will be on a much shorter leash this year, given how poorly he performed in 2024.” Also, Detmers “still has minor-league options, so he has flexibility” where the Angels could start him in the minors if he doesn’t have a great spring training.