Reid Detmers’ dominant June 16 start—plus his breakout form over the past six starts—has turned the Angels’ left-hander into one of baseball’s most coveted trade targets ahead of the Aug. 3 deadline. But with his low salary, long club control, and the Angels’
PHOENIX — Reid Detmers walked into Tuesday night’s start with the kind of stuff teams build around, and he left the Arizona Diamondbacks looking like they couldn’t find the fastball, the slider, or the curveball.
The Los Angeles Angels starter shut down Arizona, 7-0, in his latest dominant performance on Tuesday, June 16. He allowed just three singles and no walks over seven innings. generated only four swings-and-misses. and still managed to keep the D-backs off-balance with a pitch mix featuring 94-mph fastballs. 85-mph sliders. and 72-mph curveballs. The damage was limited: the Diamondbacks hit the ball hard only six times in the entire game. Detmers also threw 19 of his 24 first pitches for strikes.
Angels manager Kurt Suzuki described what has made Detmers hard to plan for right now. “It looks that he can throw any pitch at any time,” Suzuki said. “He’s just consistently pitching ahead in the count. Earlier in the year, there were a lot of foul balls late in the count. Now. he’s starting to execute put-away pitches. put in a good spot where there’s a swing-and-miss or put in play for an out weakly.”.
That “put-away” execution is showing up in the numbers. In his last six starts, Detmers is 2-0 with a 1.36 ERA, allowing just 12 hits in 33 innings while recording 39 strikeouts and five walks. Over his last three starts, he has given up one run, allowing six hits in 20 innings for a 0.45 ERA.
The Angels weren’t just winning behind Detmers. Mike Trout added a home run, a double, and three runs batted in.
In a sport where value is measured in who you can swing for at the worst possible time, Detmers has rapidly moved into the center of trade-deadline conversations. After his latest run, he has been elevated to being “perhaps the finest starting pitcher on the trade market not named Tarik Skubal.”
Suzuki even compared the current stretch to Detmers’ best work in an Angels uniform. When asked whether this was the best Detmers has ever been with the team, Suzuki said, “He had a good run there in ’22 for a stretch in the second half, so this is pretty damn close to it.”
That 2022 stretch wasn’t subtle either. Suzuki pointed to the months of July and August 2022 when Detmers went 3-1 with a 1.97 ERA in eight starts, recording 45 strikeouts and 18 walks in 45.2 innings. If this latest form holds, it may even surpass that period.
Yet in the middle of all the talk about teams coveting him, Detmers played it cool. “I’m not paying any attention to that,” Detmers told USA TODAY Sports. “I don’t see any of it, to be honest with you. I’m not on social media. It is what it is. It’s out of my control.”
Still, the league’s interest is hard to ignore, especially with the Aug. 3 trade deadline approaching. If Detmers keeps delivering outings like this, he could become one of the best bargains for contenders at the deadline.
There is a dollar-and-control reality driving the attention. While Skubal is eligible for free agency this year and is seeking a record-setting contract exceeding $400 million for a pitcher. Detmers is earning just $2.7 million this year. He also isn’t eligible for free agency until after the 2028 season.
That combination of performance and cost is already drawing inquiries, with clubs checking in with Angels general manager Perry Minasian. And even if the Angels don’t want to hear it, the obvious question is whether Los Angeles would actually part with a young starter who could become a centerpiece.
Minasian may have bad news for anyone hoping for a deal. because it’s “quite possible that Detmers isn’t going anywhere at the deadline except making his next start in an Angels uniform.” The reasoning is straightforward: if the Angels are going to win again. Detmers would be “an integral part of their future.”.
The Angels’ recent trade history adds weight to that resistance. Since their last playoff appearance in 2022, Los Angeles has been a real seller only at that deadline. They cut payroll by moving reliever Rasiel Iglesias, starter Noah Syndergaard, outfielder Brandon Marsh, and utilityman Tyler Wade. In that return, catcher Logan O’Hoppe was the only quality piece.
This season, the Angels aren’t going anywhere. They will miss the playoffs for the 12th consecutive year. But for their long-term plan. the argument is that keeping a young player under club control matters more than short-term urgency. The article points to a contrast: if Los Angeles wasn’t willing to trade a megastar like Shohei Ohtani in his walk year—rejecting several lucrative offers that included potential stars like Junior Caminero of the Tampa Bay Rays—then it becomes harder to see why they would move a young centerpiece like Detmers.
The case against trading him also runs through the Angels’ belief that they’re not just watching a hot streak. Detmers, after all, has lived through a rocky arc before this latest lift.
It may have taken longer than the Angels expected—or longer than Detmers might have wanted. The article reminds readers that Detmers became the only the 10th pitcher in history to throw a no-hitter in his first 11 career starts in baseball history in 2022. Instead of blossoming, he took a step back, going 8-19 with a 5.30 ERA the next two seasons. He walked 98 batters in 236 innings and was relegated to the bullpen all last season.
This year is different, in large part because Detmers’ potential resurfaced with pitching coach Mike Maddux joining Suzuki’s staff. That change, along with the numbers, has put the league’s eyes back on the Angels’ rotation.
Detmers described his approach as simple and repeatable. “I’m just trying to be the best pitcher I can,” Detmers, 3-5, 3.68 ERA, said. “mostly just trying to get ahead, staying ahead, and then put them out of make them have weak contact. I wouldn’t say I’m trying to do anything different than I have been in the last couple of years. But I’ve had pretty good command of the fastball lately, and that’s helped a lot.”.
His fastball has looked sharper lately, and the results back it up. Over the past stretch, he has given up just one hit in two of the six starts. He struck out 14 in one game and didn’t issue a walk in three others.
Teammates have noticed the feel of playing behind him, too. Angels shortstop Zach Neto said. “It’s fun to watch. it’s fun to play behind him every single day. and even when he’s not pitching. he’s one of the greatest teammates that we have in this locker room. just pushing every single one of us every single day to be better.”.
Put together, the facts leave the Angels with a hard decision that doesn’t feel hypothetical. Detmers is pitching like an asset the market can’t ignore—yet the Angels’ own history suggests they would rather build than sell. especially when the player is still under club control and still young enough to shape years to come.
If the Angels do trade him, the logic would have to be stronger than the desire to keep winning later. But with Detmers striking like this and the team’s recent willingness to stand pat on “build-around” stars. the more immediate signal from Los Angeles reads like intention: they sound like they plan to keep Detmers. not move him.
“So, would the Angels really trade a guy like this?” the question hangs in the air—followed by the quiet answer embedded in everything they’ve done so far. “Sounds like a guy they plan to build around.”
Reid Detmers Los Angeles Angels MLB trade deadline Aug. 3 Kurt Suzuki Mike Trout Perry Minasian Tarik Skubal Shohei Ohtani Junior Caminero Logan O’Hoppe Rasiel Iglesias