Saturday, March 21, 2020

2020 Draft Profile: Reid Detmers

LHP Reid Detmers, Louisville
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DoB: 7/8/1999.
2020 Stats: 3-0, 1.23 ERA, 1.00 WHIP, 48/6 K/BB in 22 IP

Few pitchers have dominated their competition quite like Reid Detmers as of late, as the Springfield, Illinois native is 16-4 with a 2.53 ERA and a 215/39 strikeout to walk ratio in 135.1 innings since the start of the 2019 season. This year, he went out and dominated a very strong Ole Miss lineup as well as Valparaiso, Western Michigan, and Wake Forest, picking up 15 strikeouts in that final start against the Demon Deacons. College hitters just can't touch him, and he's made them all look silly for the majority of his college career. While he may not pop radar guns like some of the other arms in this class, he might be the most major league ready pitcher available, save for perhaps Emerson Hancock.

Detmers doesn't actually throw all that hard, sitting just above 90 most days, but the rest of his game is excellent. The 6'2" lefty comes in with an excellent two-plane curveball that can drop the entire length of the strike zone from one corner to the opposite, which makes it nearly impossible to square up no matter who you are, even though it's down in the mid 70's. His changeup is his third pitch but he is very comfortable throwing it and it should be an above average pitch in time. A plus pitch and two seemingly average pitches don't sound like a top ten profile, but Detmers is such a "pitcher" (as opposed to a "thrower") that everything plays up significantly. He gets good deception and great riding action on his fastball that makes it play well above its average velocity, and he commands all three pitches with precision. He also goes about his business on the mound with a true gamer mentality, leaving no doubt that he's prepared to win every at bat. The combination of the plus command and professional approach to pitching means that he can control every at bat, locking down the strike zone and choosing when he wants hitters to chase, when he wants them to freeze, and so on.

The one thing holding Detmers out of that very top group of names in this draft is the velocity. Guys like Hancock on the college side and Jared Kelley on the high school side throw significantly harder than Detmers while maintaining plus control, and at the end of the day, velocity is king in pro ball. That said, everything else about Detmers' game is as good as it gets, and there's always the chance he can bump himself closer to the mid 90's with some pro instruction. Additionally, with all the uncertainty in this year's draft, his profile as a low risk commodity might be very attractive to teams wary of drafting kids they haven't seen play in months. His floor as a #4 starter is as high as any arm in this draft, and he has a real shot at becoming a dependable #2 guy. He was starting to rise a bit this spring, moving himself into the front half of the first round, and now with all the uncertainty he has a really good shot at finding himself in the top ten picks.

2020 game footage vs Western Michigan

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