TEMPE, Ariz. — On the first day of spring training, Angels general manager Perry Minasian said there were four locks in the starting rotation with the fifth spot up for grabs. Now that there’s only a week left, it appears the candidates for the job have trimmed down to left-hander Reid Detmers and right-hander Jack Kochanowicz.
Both pitchers have shown they can be successful in the big leagues to different degrees. Detmers is the more modern-day pitcher who relies on swings and misses to get outs whereas Kochanowicz is more old-school because he thrives on filling up the strike zone and getting groundballs.
Detmers impressed in his first full season in 2022, posting a 3.77 ERA in 25 starts and he also threw a no-hitter. Since then, he’s been unable to find that level of success consistently, and last season was his worst.
The 2024 season started exactly how Detmers wanted. In his first four starts, Detmers held a 1.19 ERA with an elite 35% strikeout rate in 22.2 innings and hitters hit just .195 against him. In the remaining 13 starts he made, Detmers struggled mightily and posted an 8.63 ERA and hitters hit .306 against him. The 26% strikeout rate in that span was still well above average, but he gave up loud contact often. It got to the point where Detmers was sent down to Triple-A Salt Lake City at the beginning of June and didn’t rejoin the Angels until September.
The biggest difference for Detmers is commanding his fastball. When he’s on, his fastball is located at the top of the strike zone. Where he runs into trouble is when the fastball doesn’t reach the top of the zone and instead sits more in the middle of the zone.
“(2024) is the first year where I've truly learned a lot about myself, a lot about going into the offseason,” Detmers said. “I know exactly what I need to work on. I think we're in a good spot. Obviously, there were ups and downs last year, but having that, I’m able to figure out what I need to work on and what I need to do.”
This spring, Detmers is throwing the ball well so far. Obviously, spring training stats should be taken with a grain of salt, but Detmers has given up four earned runs in 15.2 innings pitched with 12 strikeouts and two walks. Detmers said that he feels pretty good about his spring, all his pitches are working right now and his body feels great.
As for Kochanowicz, he’s coming off a successful first stint in the big leagues last season. Kochanowicz got the call-up in July and struggled through two starts and got sent back down to the minors. His call back up to the majors a month later was his last roster move, as he put up a 2.78 ERA in nine starts to close out the season.
“Last season gave me a ton of confidence to go out there and know my stuff works against good hitters,” Kochanowicz said.
Kochanowicz excels at filling the strike zone with his 96-mile-per-hour sinker to induce groundballs. In 2024, he produced groundballs at an elite 56.5% clip because he threw his sinker 73% of the time and curveball 18% of the time, and both for strikes. Kochanowicz also sported a 3.8% walk rate, whereas the league average is 8.4%. He generally keeps his sinkers in the middle of the zone so although he gets a lot of groundballs, Kochanowicz doesn’t produce any swings and misses or strikeouts. His strikeout rate was 9.4%, less than half the league average.
This spring, Kochanowicz has continued to pitch well, albeit spring training stats don’t mean too much. He’s given up four earned runs in 12.1 innings with seven strikeouts and four walks.
The decision of who will be the fifth starter is one thing, but the decision of what to do with the pitcher who doesn’t win the job is another. Both Detmers and Kochanowicz are capable of being big-league pitchers, so it may not be ideal for either of them to pitch in the minor leagues. In that case, one could be put in the bullpen in a long relief role, which is something the Angels are taking into consideration.
“If it makes us better, we're going to do it,” manager Ron Washington said. “But if it makes us better for the ones that don't make that rotation, that we think that every fifth day they need to get the ball, we'll do that too. We're not going to hesitate if it makes us better to do whatever we feel we have to do.”
Although it’s not an ideal role, Detmers and Kochanowicz will accept any role they get put into.
“Any role that I can do to help this team, I’m open,” Kochanowicz said. “I know my strengths. I know I can come in and get ground balls, so whatever they have for me, I’m good.”
"I haven't put a whole lot of thought into it," Detmers said. "Whatever happens, happens and the only thing I can do is go out there and pitch. I'll do anything to help the team, wherever that is, it doesn't matter to me
