Angels' $1.8 Million Former Budding Star Predicted to Make Starting Rotation

As teams get ready for the start of the upcoming baseball season, everyone has something to prove. It doesn't matter if you are a star player or a fringe rotation player, consistency is the key when it comes to staying up in the big leagues.

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For the Los Angeles Angels, one of the players with the most to prove this year is starting pitcher Reid Detmers. After being demoted to the minor leagues last season, Detmers is determined to prove that he belongs in the majors this year.

Detmers was once a budding star for Los Angeles but he fell into a consistency trap last season. However, the Angels believe that his troubles are behind him and that he can be a solid presence within the pitching staff this year.

Joel Reuter of Bleacher Report also seems to be a believer in Detmers and has predicted him to be in the Angels starting rotation this coming season. Reuter predicted the starting rotations for each team in baseball entering the year.

Detmers will have an extra chip on his shoulders after how his 2024 went but the lefty still has the tools to find success. His 2022 season showed what he could do on the mound as Detmers posted an ERA of 3.77 over 25 starts.

The 2023 season was a mixed bag as the left-hander saw his ERA jump a little to 4.48 over 28 starts. But 2024 was an awful year for him as his ERA skyrocketed to 6.70 over just 17 starts.

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This led the team to demote him to the minor leagues so he could attempt a fix at his stuff. Detmers' consistency and command were real problems last season.

So far in spring training, it seems that Detmers could be returning to form. Over 11.2 innings of work, the left-hander has posted an ERA of 2.31, giving the Angels some hope.

Angels manager Ron Washington will be tasked with overseeing how Detmers performs and then making a hard decision on him. It seems that Detmers could start the year in the rotation but he may be on a short leash due to his struggles from last season.

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For more Angels news, head on over to Angels on SI.