Angels News: Halos Young Starter Picked as Breakout Candidate for Next Season
The Angels enter the 2023 season with one of the most underrated starting rotations in all of baseball. It's likely to still improve, as the Angels have their eyes set on adding one more arm to round out their six-man rotation. But for now, they have five really good starters, who will give them a chance to compete in every single game.
We know Shohei Ohtani, he was a Cy Young candidate last year. Then there's Tyler Anderson, who the Angels signed to a three-year, $39 million deal this offseason. He was an All-Star with the Dodgers last year, and will hope to continue that level of play this season. After those two there's Patrick Sandoval, who was one of the best pitchers in baseball in the second half of last season, and will continue to fly under the radar in 2023.
Between those three, the Angels already have three All-Star caliber pitchers. But we haven't even gotten to the one that MLB.com's Rhett Bollinger predicted will have a breakout season in 2023, and that's the Angels' fourth starter, LHP Reid Detmers.
Detmers had a great rookie season last year, even throwing a no-hitter in early May. Bollinger, however, thinks he's going to take the next step in his age-24 season.
"Detmers, 23, was solid as a rookie, posting a 3.77 ERA with 122 strikeouts in 129 innings and memorably throwing a no-hitter against the Rays on May 10. But he also scuffled for a bit and was sent down to the Minors in late June for one start at Triple-A, where he worked to fix his slider. Detmers went on to post a 3.36 ERA in 11 starts in the second half and is poised for a breakout year in 2023."
A breakout 2023 season by Detmers could give the Angels the best rotation in all of baseball. The 3.77 ERA he posted last year was extremely solid, but if he can get that number closer to the 3.00 range, and can up the strikeouts, he may be one of the best No. 4 starters in the entire league.
Pitching has long been a concern for the Angels. In 2023, it may just be their greatest strength.
