Today we take a look at another college pitcher and the #2 rated left-handed pitcher in the Baseball America rankings – Louisville Cardinals starter Reid Detmers. He’s rated 8th in the draft by both Baseball America and MLB Pipeline, while Fangraphs has him at #15 on their list.
The 2018 Season
After being selected by the Atlanta Braves in the 32nd round of the 2017 draft, Reid Detmers chose to head off to college and pitch for the Louisville Cardinals. In his freshman season he split time between the rotation and the bullpen. He made eight starts and 10 relief appearances, having mixed results. He posted a 4.85 ERA in 55.2 innings where he allowed eight home runs, walked 34 batters, hit another seven, and struck out 69 of the 253 hitters he faced.
Following the regular season he headed out to the Cape Cod and pitched for Brewster where he made six more starts and one relief appearance. His ERA there was 4.55 across 27.2 innings where he gave up seven home runs, but cut his walk rate to just seven hitters and he struck out 29 batters.
The 2019 Season
The sophomore season was a breakout one for Reid Detmers. He made 18 starts for Louisville and pitched out of the bullpen in another game, throwing a total of 113.1 innings. He walked one batter less than he had the year before despite throwing more than twice as many innings. His strikeout rate, which was already strong, exploded as he fanned 167 hitters while giving up just 71 hits. All told that led to a 2.78 ERA and a 0.92 WHIP on the year.
The 2020 Season
To say that Reid Detmers junior season was out to a great start would be an understatement. Through four games he had allowed just three runs in 22.0 innings. He had walked six batters and struck out 48 of the 91 hitters he faced. But like everyone else, his season came to an abrupt end in early March.
Reid Detmers College Stats
Reid Detmers Video
Reid Detmers Scouting Report
Height: 6′ 2″ | Weight: 210 lbs.
Bats: Left | Throws: Left
Position(s): Left-Handed Starting Pitcher
The numbers that have been put up over the last two seasons by Reid Detmers are nothing short of impressive. But the numbers don’t exactly line up with the stuff. The left-handed pitcher has below-average velocity – even for a lefty in today’s game, with his fastball sitting 89-92 MPH. You can get by with that, but it’s not something that’s going to go unnoticed, either. What does stand out for Detmers is his curveball. It’s a low-to-mid 70’s breaking ball with 12-6 action that grades out as a plus offering. It’s his go to pitch. The lefty has four total offerings, though. His third pitch is a change up that’s a tad below-average, but could become average in the future. There’s also a slider that’s his worst offering of the four, a below-average one that he rarely throws.
Where the concern could be
While you could probably project Reid Detmers as a future starter in the big leagues, the margin there is thin. His fastball is at a velocity that is tough for many guys to get away with in the Major Leagues without excellent control and at least one very good secondary pitch. Detmers curveball provides the latter, and his control has been good in his time at Louisville over the last two years. Still, if you’re going to be concerned, you’re likely looking at the fastball velocity and wondering if there’s enough to get big league hitters out often enough at 89-92.
Not to drag him, but against a ML lineup stacked with righthanded hitters this guy is toast. I’m not a big fan of pitchers with the big loopy 12-6 curve. Looks to be a 4th round kind of talent to me.
I could see him as a Cliff Lee type. He probably does need 2 mph more on his fastball, but that isn’t impossible to project. He also seemed to do a pretty good job of hiding his pitches, so he could be “sneaky fast.”
The lefties to avoid are the ones that they compare to Tom Glavine, because it generally means that the fastball is awful.
Cliff Lee was throwing harder than 89MPH.
How does he compare to Kyle Hendrick’s? Is being a lefty yhe biggest negative in that comparison?