Detmers deals; Ohtani swings big in first spring game

TEMPE, Ariz. -- It was an eventful rookie season in 2022 for lefty Reid Detmers, who threw a no-hitter against the Rays on May 10, was later sent down to the Minors for a start in late June and then finished the season strong after tweaking his slider grip.

Detmers, 23, posted a 3.77 ERA in 25 starts, including a 3.04 ERA with 78 strikeouts in 71 innings over his final 13 outings after his brief demotion to the Minors. Detmers changed his slider grip to get more velocity on that pitch during his outing at Triple-A Salt Lake, and the adjustment helped him get back on track. He’s looking to build on that success this season, and made his spring debut in Sunday's 7-0 win over the White Sox, throwing two scoreless innings with five strikeouts.

“The main goal was just throw strikes,” Detmers said. “I wasn’t trying to do anything crazy. I just wanted to get out there and throw strikes. Pretty much just land every pitch. And I thought I did that well today and had good results.”

Detmers is considered a lock to make the rotation, and the Angels are expecting big things from the former No. 10 overall pick in the 2020 MLB Draft. Angels manager Phil Nevin said Detmers got noticeably stronger over the offseason, and he believes it will help with the lefty's velocity.

“He had a heck of an offseason,” Nevin said. “You watch his bullpens, you watch his work. You see his body. He's noticeably gained some mass to his body. Remember, he's 23 years old. He's still growing. And from what I've seen in his ‘pens so far this spring, the velocity, the movement on his slider and the velocity of the slider is where we got it to last year -- and even a couple of ticks above.”

Detmers said his mentality is different this spring, as he doesn’t have to compete for a spot in the rotation like he did last year. He said it allows him to work on things during Spring Training games without having to worry about results as much.

“Last year, I didn't really know what was gonna happen,” Detmers said. “Every start, every outing was a decent amount of pressure. Now I can just kind of relax a little bit, kind of just get my work in and just have fun.”

Outside of getting stronger, Detmers said he didn’t alter much in the offseason. But the slider became his best pitch last year, and now he’s trying to get his changeup on that same level.

“I really didn’t make any changes,” Detmers said. “I just wanted my changeup to be a little bit better, so I worked on that. But it’s the same grip, same everything. So nothing too crazy, just tried to figure out my body better and how it moves the best. I thought toward the end of last year it was moving the best, so I kind of took that into the offseason and worked on that.”

Angels stars lead extra-base hit parade
The Angels rolled out a lineup full of regulars against the White Sox, including a top of the lineup that could look similar to Opening Day. Taylor Ward served as leadoff hitter and was followed by Mike Trout, Shohei Ohtani and Hunter Renfroe.

All five hitters notched an extra-base hit, as Ohtani tripled in the first, Ward and Trout both doubled in the second and Anthony Rendon and Renfroe hit back-to-back homers in the third. Ohtani’s triple off the right-center-field wall came on the first pitch he saw in Cactus League play this spring. He also swung early in the count in his next two at-bats, but said not to read too much into it.

“They were over the plate, so that’s why I swung,” Ohtani said through interpreter Ippei Mizuhara. “It wasn’t really a change in approach.”

Ohtani said he’s also adjusting to the pitch timer as both a hitter and a pitcher, but that he put in work to prepare for the changes. He also plans to use PitchCom to call his own pitches during the season. His first Cactus League start comes Tuesday against the A’s in Mesa.

“I took a lot longer last year because I was shaking off a lot of pitches,” Ohtani said. “I wanted to make that one pitch that I had in mind. But this time around I've been calling my own pitches, so I don’t have to worry about that and it should help with the pitch [timer].”