Los Angeles Angels at Seattle Mariners

Of all the decisions the Angels made ahead of the 2026 season, moving left-hander Reid Detmers back into the rotation was perhaps their smartest move. Detmers had a breakout season and put an exclamation point on it with a dominant showing in a 7-5 win over the Mariners on Friday night at T-Mobile Park. Detmers struck out seven over six scoreless innings while scattering two hits and two walks to finish on a high note. It also means the Angels only have to win one of their two final games to avoid losing 100 games for the first time in franchise history. Detmers, 27 finishes his stellar season with a 3.36 ERA and 211 strikeouts and 48 walks in 185 innings. He set a career high with 32 starts while also becoming the first Angels lefty to record 200 strikeouts in a season since Chuck Finley in 1999. But he went just 7-8 on the year due to a lack of run support. He especially turned it on over his final 13 starts, as he posted a 1.89 second-half ERA -- fourth best in MLB, trailing just AL Cy Young favorite Cam Schlittler (1.80), Jesus Luzardo (1.84) and Drew Rasmussen (1.86) -- with 88 strikeouts in 76 1/3 innings. Detmers flourished under interim pitching coach Tim Levaque, as he began using TrackMan during his bullpen sessions to analyze his pitches better. It's also impressive Detmers made all of his scheduled starts despite throwing 63 2/3 innings in relief in 2025, with a jump of more than 120 innings this year. It’s an incredibly encouraging development for the Angels, especially considering how Detmers remains under team control for two more seasons. He was a candidate to be moved ahead of the Trade Deadline, but the Angels wisely held onto him. Now they have two frontline starters between Detmers and Walbert Ureña, who turned in an incredible rookie season with a 2.97 ERA in 148 1/3 innings.