HUNTSVILLE, Ala. — On Friday night, the Los Angeles Angels announced former Rocket City Trash Pandas pitcher Reid Detmers has been promoted to the Angels and will make his MLB debut tomorrow night against the Oakland A’s at Angel Stadium.
Currently ranked as the Angels No. 2 prospect and No. 57 prospect overall by MLB.com, Detmers will become the first former Rocket City player to reach the Major Leagues.
Named the first Opening Day starter in Trash Pandas history, Detmers made 12 starts for Rocket City and went 2-4 with a 3.50 ERA (21 ER/54.0 IP) along with 18 walks and 97 strikeouts. At the time of his promotion to Triple-A Salt Lake on July 22, his 97 strikeouts led Double-A South and were the most among all Angels farmhands. In his Triple-A debut on July 24 against Las Vegas, he tossed six scoreless innings with one walk and nine strikeouts to earn the win.
Detmers, 22, currently holds the Trash Pandas franchise record for strikeouts in a game with a career-high 16 at Chattanooga on June 26. That start followed a dominant 14-strikeout performance in a win over Biloxi at Toyota Field on June 20.
The first starting pitcher in both Trash Pandas and Toyota Field history, Detmers went 0-2 with a 4.05 ERA (9 ER/20.0 IP) and 30 strikeouts over five May starts. In June, he was 2-0 with a 3.86 ERA (9 ER/21.0 IP0 with just five walks and 46 strikeouts. He ended his time in Rocket City with a 2.08 ERA (3 ER/13.0 IP) with four walks and 21 strikeouts over three July starts.
