Los Angeles Angels Reid Detmers Returning vs. Dodgers, 6-Man Rotation? Eppler Guys vs. Minasian Guys

on this episode of lock on Angels red Detmer is back was his time in triaa helpful and the Halo said they're going to a six-man rotation is that a good move and what's the difference between manassian guys and Epler guys well we have some thoughts it's time to get locked on with Mike and John and this is locked on [Music] Angels you are locked on Angels your daily Los Angeles Angels podcast part of the locked on podcast Network your team every day yes it is and yes we are thanks for making locked on Angels your first listen of the day you can find us anywhere you get your podcast including Apple podcast Spotify and SiriusXM by searching locked on angels and if you'd like to get back to John and I the super Halo Bros for all the super Halo content here's some things that we would love for you to do leave us a rate and a review on Apple podcast if you're watching on YouTube hit that thumbs up button and if you're not subscribed already please subscribe and become a locked on every day or whether you're watching or listening come over to YouTube leave a comment it's one of the best ways to get in touch with us and be a part of the conversation and this episode of lock on Angels is brought to you by FanDuel now through September 22nd all FanDuel customers can bet $ five and get a thre week free trial of NFL Sunday Ticket from YouTube and YouTube TV visit fanduel.com to get started thanks for being here for this episode of lockdown Angels where it's your team every day you've got the FR Brothers here with you aka the super Halo Brothers my name is John and that's my brother Mike and my name is Mike and that's my brother John our third season here at lockdown Angels slowly wrapping up the third season Mike of full season is almost behind us here in September on today's show why are the Angels moving to a six-man rotation is that going to be beneficial or is it gon to take away from anything we'll get into that discussion I think it's important to have what's the difference between minassians guys and Epler guys we'll get into that discussion as well but first Mike your boy Reed Detmer he's returning tonight starting against the Dodgers at Angel Stadium let's get into it yeah it'll be his first Major League start since he was last pitching in the major leagues June 1st against the Mariners John wi he was sent down three and six with a 614 erra that last start against the Mariners was not good five earn runs and just struggled in that game less than three Innings and then in 14 starts in Triple A deur was six and six with a five 54 erra but Demmer did have three really great starts to finish out his time down there he gave up just three earned runs in 21 Innings so what he do in double a well according to Reed he said triple a triple I'm sorry Triple A what he do in Triple A he said well not too much that's literally what he said he said he didn't change anything other than going back to the way he used to throw his slider we've talked about that on this show before and Detmer said he made various changes with the pitch somehow or sometimes throwing it harder throwing it slower like he did last year his quote was my stuff was working it's felt really good for a long time but it kind of came all together in the last couple of starts on being down for as long as he was you know you and I've talked about like how long he should have been there and we mentioned September might be the the time to call him back up he said it was tough to be down there there were a lot of ups and downs but the staff down there is unbelievable kept me levelheaded anytime they saw me get down a bit they brought me back up you just got to take ADV anage of what you got and keep your head up and Trust the process and by the way Reed also was asked about his time missed in the major leagues John his time Miss now pushes his free agent year one extra year Reed said I'm just gonna leave that alone I'm not gonna comment on that I'm not gonna say anything about that so lot to tease out there Johnny let me throw a couple of questions to you here's the first one Reed said nothing changed outside of going back to the slider he used to throw and what we saw in the minor leagues in Triple A was similar to the major leagues is that concerning to you yeah I'm looking at the the numbers when he left 3- six 614 ER 14 starts with triaa 6- six with a 5.54 erra we'll talk about you know Triple A is inflated Salt Lake is inflated the offense is inflated so not the best picture of what a starter can do but we've been keeping track Mike and some of that was demmer's working on things where it's like you got to hit the zone you got to hit the Zone bro because that was the biggest thing it was just the control and whatnot and so I'm sure and we discussed this on the show previously in his first start didn't look great but it was a matter of well can you even hit the zone at this point and so I'm sure that he got rocked a few times I think what the important thing here for Reed Demmer is is those last three starts yeah where he gave up three earned runs across 21 innings you had to see consistency right you had to see that he still had something in the tank and I honestly believe that even though the results are not great uh at the major league level and remember that he was off to a tremendous start right this season we thought it was like oh there's there's Ace caliber Demmer you've always believed that he's had the potential to be an ace but going down to Triple A having that 5.54 erra it's been a mixed bag to be honest with you and I think that's a okay I think that the last three consistent starts are what you really want to look at there because it shows that I me maybe he's figured something out and and on that question of figuring things out Reed talked about staying levelheaded down in Triple A seems like the issue is it's always been a head issue right because his his stuff has always been great uh his his slider and and everything that he's brought to the table has always been pretty great seems like it's always been in his head and it kind of felt that way by the time he got sent down right yeah even just his comment about him saying that when I got down and they really picked me back up it seemed like that was the issue when he was here at the major league level they had to bring him back up he just seemed almost like he wasn't present it seemed like he was not there when he needed to be there and really felt lost remember he had a couple of interviews before he was sent down after games where he was like I just don't know man he's emotional I just don't know right and and what the difference between him and like kahanowitz who when he first started remember he said I just got to throw my my Sinker better I just got to locate that better I know exactly what I need to do and then what have we seen from konowitz four consecutive really good starts from him right right but from Reed it's been I don't know man I just don't know and so that's that's concerning right because he's not sure and I'm sure the coaching staff is giving him all sorts of Direction and stuff but something that you and I've talked often about and and you even brought it up is it just seems like it's really a head thing for him it's it's not an ability thing for him it really just seems like it's in his head pretty often and you've talked about these young guys coming up Kai bush with the white socks now and some of the other young guys they just seem like they come up and man they just get lost or overwhelmed yeah whether it's their first start or it's their 21st start but Reed's been up for a bit and he still hasn't been able to master the the the head over the the ability thing right right and and they said you know what did he do while he was in tripa he said well not too much he didn't change anything other than going back to the slider and and to me I I when I first heard that comment of like well I didn't do too much but it it frustrated me yes but then I was I was reminded that like yeah you know what it he's got good stuff and he's always had good stuff it's between the ears yeah with these guys and so it sounded to me at first like he just didn't identify what was going on but Mike I think the important key here is that note where he said they picked me up when I was down they helped me stay levelheaded and and here's what I think is true about the fact that he spent so much time in tripa and we'll talk about the contract thing here in just a second but yeah the truth of the matter is you can give Reed all the attention that he needs to get better when in Triple A because who do you have in Triple A you've got a mix of Veteran guys you've got a couple of Fringe Major Leaguers yeah some some youngsters on the come up as well but at the end of the day Reed Demmer is important to this franchise he's important to this front office he's important to this team and so I think that there is an ability in Triple A to pay attention a little bit more bubble wrap a little bit more because when he's up with a major league club you've got to manage veterans and young guys and other young guys who are trying to perform you got Joell and Mickey MO onc and and all those guys in in Logan ohy Neto Sorano you've got to manage a lot of young guys and I think that there is a benefit to the fact that deurs was able to go to Triple A get the attention that he needs I'm I'm making him sound like a child he's not a child what I'm trying to say is he's important to this franchise he's worth paying attention to and for the coaching staff to give him the attention to help him get right that he needs I think that could only take place at triaa and it seems like it took place we'll see how he does against the Dodgers tonight yeah um he had two starts against him last year and oton L Dodgers by the way you know went pitch for pitch with Clayton Kershaw Kershaw even said yeah he was a better pitcher than me that day and then a few weeks later didn't have a great start against the Dodgers but Mikey does lose a year of free agency he didn't want to talk about it right who where does the blame fall in that scenario well he he didn't do well and so the Angels had no other option right they had to send him down to Triple A so it it really it falls on him now should they have kept him down that long I'll go on record and there is record I said keep him there until September yeah you did because the guy was the guy was really struggling he was not the same guy that he was when he started the season and you need reeters to be a really great pitcher for this major league club moving forward right and he really wasn't in the major so it doesn't it doesn't make me I wouldn't be too frustrated I'm not readed but as a fan I'm like hey give us an extra year because you didn't do much for us this year and so if it does give the Angels an extra year which according to the stats it does then I think that that's a good thing for the Halos so I would put more the blame on Reed because he just didn't perform now were was there some manipulation from the organization and wanting to keep him down longer possibly right possibly but even before all of this conversation came up you and I both said said hey it'd be great if he stayed down there for a while and to your point that way he gets thoughtful intentional work on just who he is right I got to give you the credit for that one because I I thought he'd he'd be back sooner and I kind of wanted to see him back sooner but as his time in triple A progressed it was clear that he wasn't ready to come back and I also think that yes I think there was probably a point where they said well we get him for another year sure and and to be honest this was a last year the fallof was way too dramatic from who he was to start the season to who he became by June John he was gonna win 20 games that's what his his goal was he was on the way he looked fantastic right mik he was the he was the the streak stopper like we talked about you know you got to have a guy in the rotation who is the streak stopper and our first win of the Season came behind retur and and so that sort of thing is is true about him up until he started falling off the fallof again was so dramatic that something had to be done and dramatic Circumstances had to take place and a year in Triple A you know year quote unquote it this was the year to do it there's no reason to have him up at the major league level continue to struggle not trying to make the playoffs this was the no expectations year as we've said many many times and I think that the angels to their credit and and to Perry minassian in the front office to their credit did the right thing here in not trying to get Reed back so quickly let him work out the nonsense we'll see what happens and between the ears and the head is is where the problems lie yeah and so I'm looking forward to talking about his start tomorrow thanks for making lockdown Angels your first listen of the day speaking of the start tonight the Dodgers 6:38 Pacific Time Reed demmer's on the mound you can catch every pitch of the Angels Hometown broadcast with SiriusXM on the sxm app just search Angels coming up on lock on Angels what's the difference between Billy Epler guys and Perry minassian guys we've got some thoughts on that we'd love to hear your thoughts too but we'll share ours coming right up lockdown Angels is brought to you by game time they are obsessed with finding ways to help you save money on all your tickets not just with sports you can get all sorts of tickets with game time concerts comedy theater so much more you can save when you have their app you can save with exclusive inapp Flash Deals on select seats wherever you're going ahead of the time whether it's a game or it's an event and they have Zone deals where you choose the section and then game time chooses the seats all in pricing of 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locked on MLB all one word $20 off your very first purchase what time is it game time this is the lockdown podcast Network where it's your team every day and every dayers you are invited to join us for the ohappy allstar bull this event is being put on by Logan ohappy he's inviting some of his teammates and the goal is to raise funds for Corey's promise a nonprofit organization that walks alongside families whose children are dealing with pediatric cancer such a great cause we're so excited to be part of this event and when you buy your tickets the proceeds are going to go toward Corey's promise in fact you can hang with us on Saturday October 5th at cowbow in Lakewood from 1 to 4: PM we're bowling together supporting a great cause again we're going to see some Angel Players there they're going to bowl with us so if you've got some bowling skills you might be able to show those off grab your tickets by clicking the link in the episode description when you do use our promo code Bros that's b r OS a checkout you can get $50 off your ticket so come hang with us come hang with oapp and come hang with some Angels players as we bowl together and have a great time on Saturday October 5th Johnny uh word is that the Halos are going to go with a six-man rotation for the rest of the season we went from who's starting who's even going to be on the mound too no kid now we've got a whole lot of great pitchers or at least potentially great pitchers in starting rotation so for now starting tonight it looks like it's going to be deur canning kahanowitz alary Anderson and Kaden Dana there's 24 games left after tonight each starter could potentially have three more starts before the end of the year so we could see Kad and Dana couple more times which is great out the giri couple more times I would love to see what they can do and I would love to see if jackowitz could continue his quality start streak that guy has really been impressive we'll talk about him in the next segment but Johnny the big question that all Angel fans are wondering about is the name Jose Sorano was not listed in that six-man rotation so do you think that he's gonna sit out for the rest of the year and is that a smart move I think it's wise I think it's important you know he went on the I on the 17th of August with right arm fatigue and anything dealing with arms and and elbows and things like that we have heard in the past these sorts of things start out as it's fatigue yeah fatigue you know the official listing is fatigue and I and I hate that so much but Mike I I would not push it yeah because here's the thing about Jose Sorano last year 2023 42 Innings pitched out of the bullpen of course he was fantastic we all thought that he was going to remain in the bullpen and be somebody we could really count on but then everybody had an eye for no no no he's got more Talent than that yep he could be something greater than that and he's proven that he's had a phenomenal year out of the starting rotation in fact this year he's at 113 Innings pitched as a starter and the right arm fatigue to me is just the sign of growth and the sign of a young guy learning how to be a starter and managing that in fact Mike the only time he's come close to 113 and and again this is the most Innings pitch he's pitched in the season 2019 he pitched mostly in single a there was a couple innings in rookie Ball but it was 82 and a third Innings pitched in 2019 for single a that's the closest he's ever come then the last time he had Tommy John's surgery was 2021 he happened to be with the Pirates when that occurred and he had the surgery and remember that he was a rule five pick so he has bounced between the angels and the Pirates back and forth the Angels got him back fortunately for us so when I look at his numbers and I look at the stuff that he's been able to do as a starting pitcher I have no problem shutting him down for the rest of the season and I have to think that giving these guys 24 you know 24 games left six guys that's actually three plus that's maybe four sure maybe get these guys get four more starts my math is right yeah six 24 divided by six four should be I think yeah right I'm a talker not a math guy yeah but here's the thing to see these guys in the rotation at least three to four more times I think it's important one you want to see how Anderson is going to finish this season so that you kind of know what you're getting next year canning is a mystery and you know we've I shouldn't say that that we've kind of figured out who canning is right and I think that he deserves the opportunities to finish out this year he's carried this team in terms of just taking the ball every five days but konowitz Al Deary and Dana and even demmer's give them a couple of looks before the end of the season I imagine Mike that there might be a situation where somebody like Dana doesn't get four starts maybe he gets two more just because they want to manage his Innings he also has thrown the most Innings that he's ever thrown in his career across double A and then now in the majors so that's another consideration to make there when it comes to the six-man rotation yeah I wonder if they're going to have some limits on the two young guys aliri and Dana right because they are new to this and they're trying to figure some things out if I'm going to give Innings to anybody I'm probably G to give Innings to alagiri over Kad and Dana because Dana has pitched the most he's ever pitched this season obviously he's fantastic and you want to protect that arm and so I'd love to see him maybe do two more starts but I would I would try to squeeze in four more starts for Sam aliger because I I'd love to see what he can actually do when he doesn't struggle in the first inning and when the defense doesn't struggle behind him in the first inning and so I'm looking forward to his next start what's great about each of these names John is that it gives us as Angel fans something to look forward to because obviously the Angels aren't great at all and so we can see these guys have an opportunity to continue to prove themselves and looking at this rotation outside of obviously Angels make a big free agent move they get Corbin Burns right or something along those lines of these names that are listed the six names here who outside of Anderson would you say is gonna be a a really good has a really good shot to be in the rotation next year demmer's canning konowitz aliri and Dana yeah I think I think you're definitely gonna see deur be back in this rotation maybe the expectation on him will be less than it was coming into this season I suppose and remember Patrick sanal is gon to be on the iil because he's had the Tommy John surgery probably won't be back until at least the end of 2025 Mike I think konowitz is going to be a huge part of the rotation next season and could be a huge part of that rotation if he continues to pitch the way that he's been pitching I'm I'm looking at I'm looking at the schedule the of the way yeah and there's you know top of mind is obviously six games against the white socks well you know everybody's going to expect to to do something there but you know how the angels can be right watch them split it however it's actually pretty tough the rest of the way we've got the Dodgers for two the Rangers for four they've got three against the twins three against the Astros and then the white socks then four more against the Astros three against the white socks and three against the Rangers so there are some matchups that I think we can look forward to as the remainder of the Season plays out and there's some some tough matchups how are these young guys gonna handle yeah the offense of say an Astros team or a Rangers team how's deur going to perform tonight against the Dodgers I think there's a lot of great questions that can be answered if the Angels pursue this six-man rotation and there's a lot of opportunities here to see hey how do they do against Bad teams like the white socks and then how do they step up against some of these really good teams that are going to prove to be a challenge I mean I don't know how the schedule is going to line up but if we see Cory Seager versus Kaden Dana what's that matchup look like I think that's a really intriguing thing to talk about as we close out the season with this six-man rotation lockdown Angels just brought to you by FanDuel we talk often about FanDuel America's number one sports book and right now through September 22nd all FanDuel customers can bet $5 and get a 3- week free trial of NFL Sunday Ticket from YouTube and YouTube TV then with YouTube TV their base plan you'll be able to watch Regular every regular season Sunday afternoon out of Market games which is fantastic if you root for a team that isn't in your area all you need is a Google account and a current form of payment and you can cancel anytime just visit fanduel.com lockon and you can can download America's number one sports book okay we alluded to this conversation as we talked about Reed Detmer and some of the talk about you know what did he work on he said well not much right and at first I was just like are you kidding me right what do you mean not much and last night after we finished or was it two night two nights ago after we finished our show we were talking about what we were G to talk about I said are you kidding me when I read when I read his comments now that I have the context I'm a little more I'm not so tightly wound about this conversation but Mike it just brings up a larger point that if you look back at the last 10 years of Angels baseball and you look at the guys that they've drafted the guys that have come up and made an impact versus the guys that haven't I think you notice a very big difference between the guys that Billy Epler brought into this organ organization versus who Perry manasian has brought in to this organization and I'm talking about I'm talking about prospects I'm not talking about you know Billy uper obviously signed the trout extension he got Otani to sign with the angels right not talking about that stuff I'm talking about the guys who have come in through the draft or International free agency or what have you and manassian guys versus Epler guys seem to be more capable and ready and and excited to step up to the challenge of the major leagues I mean Epler guys seem to and and continue to we still have eper guys on this team yeah they seem to have the ability but they seem to struggle mentally yeah and and an example of that is redmer like we just got through talking about that where this guy's a great pitcher yeah but but the mentality of how to the game just doesn't seem to be there sand ofal before he got hurt the whole conversation around this year was you know is he going to be an angry pitcher when he's out there people said let him be angry he said let me be angry let me do my thing when the year before it was I'm G to try to keep my emotions in check and D D D D D and it's just like what are we doing yeah what like we we talked about getting somebody a sports therapist here and and the truth of the matter is it's it feels like it's all mental I think about Jose Suarez before he got DFA and you know his comments about like hey you know how'd you feel about your performance I thought it did pretty well I thought it went well no it didn't seven walks in that game Jose you gave up eight earned runs or what have you it's just like yeah it just right it I'm doing the flying over your head motion for those on the audio side that's what it feels like it feels like there's a lot not going on in terms of of the competitiveness of these guys or or understanding their role understanding who they are and and what I think I'm getting at is there's a major difference between the guys that Billy has brought in or did bring in and and they're not all misses right they're not all misses but sure when you look at manassian guys you think about a Caden Dana right 20 years old baby face big dude baby face yeah comes out there looks confident and mentally tough on Sunday yeah he gave up four walks and you know what he did he pitched around him didn't come back to haunt him didn't come back to hurt him and I think that's the mentality I like to see Zack netto's a ball player Mike and maybe that's what we're talking the difference here is is like ball players versus athletes yeah right is does that make sense absolutely and I think you're you're right not all the Epler drafts were bad we talked about kahanowitz konowitz has really been somebody that has been a pleasant surprise right I don't mean to say that like oh all Billy eer guys are bad all Billy eer I just think that you you got baseball dudes yeah and you have athletes Joe Adell is one of the most impressive athletes you're ever going to see right on any field right or basketball court or maybe volleyball you know what I'm saying like on any field Joe Adell could slot in like I'm picking him first if we're picking teams I'm picking him first I don't care what the sport is I'm picking him first but baseball dudes and mentality I think comes a lot more quickly for minassian guys and that's all about scouting and I and that's that's it goes back to the where the finances have gone John and I think that that's a part of what we're experiencing now with Epler guys right it it may not necessarily be just completely on him it might be the fact that we didn't have strong resources in the minor leagues and in The Scouting and now Perry has really been able to allocate some things and I think the results that you're seeing which is really what got him the extension in my opinion are that his scouting people have looked at baseball people like for example Christian Moore was being watched by Tim mlane because he lives in that area and he was being watched every single day Christian Moore is a baseball player right by the way no update on his injury when we know it we'll pass it along but uh it's a lower body injury which concerns me but ultimately what we've seen the last few years is that manassian Scouts have drafted baseball players and they they've resourced those guys to go and watch those guys and we're seeing the result on the major league roster I also think it speaks to the fact that minassian has gone after obviously college guys who are in their junior or senior year they're ready to come to the majors I think that makes a big difference to to Billy ep's credit Billy did take more High School guys which I think is great but Mike I would also say this I think if you were to take somebody like Joe Adell and put him in the orial system I don't think he has as many of the struggles he's had over the course of his career I think that he performs much more quickly he's starting to come around don't get me wrong you guys know I love Joe Adell yeah but I think that if he were in another system based on the resources available based on the effort put into the minor leagues based on all of that stuff I think that he thrives in another system I think that's partially what the problem is with guys like Reed deur or Jose Suarez who again uh you know guys that people were looking forward to but at the end of the day I think you're right I don't think the resource was behind scouting development training data analytics I would say it for maybe a Taylor Ward too I know that he's a late bloomer Epler guy had he come up in any other system I think that he wouldn't have taken as long to get to where he has been what he's been able to do I know I know he's struggled this season but we've seen flashes of who Taylor Ward is we've seen Joe Adell pick it up at the end of the season I think that you would have seen that a lot sooner in other systems and so maybe that's the key difference but again I think it comes down to you drafted some baseball dudes and I think that's really exciting to see hey thanks for making lockdown Angels your first listen of the day now for your second listen check out lockon MLB it's a great podcast with our friend soy and and it's a part of the locked on podcast Network where it's your team every day hey give us a follow on Twitter at lockon Angels or superalo Bros on Twitter and Instagram you can find us there whether you're watching or listening to Today's Show come on over to YouTube find the episode and get in the comments section hit that like button on the way down and hit that subscribe button if you haven't done so already really helps out Mike and I it helps out our Channel we love watching the growth take place Mike what do we have on deck for tomorrow's show well shotani is is going to be at Angel Stadium tonight and so that ought to be really interesting watch right big return I'm excited about that but he was asked about not getting resigned and the deal with the Dodgers and what he said was kind of normal kind of what he's been saying all along so we're gonna break down what he said and John I just have a personal opinion about this that I'm gonna hold until tomorrow's show but it's about Otani being asked that question and it's about Otani himself and so I'm going to share all of that tomorrow on locked on angels all right looking forward to that com Sation we hope you'll come back and join us until then my name is John and that's my brother Mike and my name is Mike and that's my brother John thanks for being here with us everybody and we'll see you back here on Wednesday all right it's gonna be like what 8020 Dodger fans no kidding yeah because the tickets are way cheaper at Angel Stadium