Angels’ Reid Detmers ready for first start since his no-hitter

ARLINGTON, Texas — Reid Detmers will take the mound on Tuesday for the first time with a new label.

He’s now a pitcher who has thrown a no-hitter in the big leagues.

Although the rookie left-hander insisted that his confidence was never lacking, he concedes that it has increased since he pitched a no-hitter against the Tampa Bay Rays last week.

“Confidence has always been there but now it’s like ‘I can do this,’” he said on Monday. “Kind of just like seeing how my stuff plays, and just keep it that way. I wouldn’t say anything else has changed. I still have the same mindset, routine and workload between starts.”

Detmers also has an American League Player of the Week award on his resume after winning the honor on Monday.

“An individual achievement like that is awesome within our game, especially for a young guy,” Manager Joe Maddon said. “It validates what you’re doing and could take you to another level. … It’s something that actually I think could bolster his confidence even more. The combination of pitching a complete game and a no-hitter, receiving an award like this, I just look for bumps in self-confidence.”

CATCHER CREDIT

Detmers’ no-hitter was the best performance in a week that was outstanding for the Angels’ pitching staff as a whole. The Angels posted a major league-best 1.55 ERA, including an 0.81 mark for the starters.

Notably, they did it with a pair of new catchers. Kurt Suzuki and Max Stassi were both placed on the COVID-related injured list, leaving Chad Wallach and Austin Romine to handle the staff.

“They were unbelievable,” pitching coach Matt Wise said. “It’s a credit to them and their attention to detail and ability to retain information and get to know guys quickly. Spring training probably played a big role in it. I’ve been impressed with the way they’ve worked with (the pitchers).”

Both catchers were with the Angels during spring training, but they had little experience with the Angels’ pitchers before that. Wallach finished last season in Triple-A with the Angels, and Romine was signed just before spring training.

Wallach caught one bullpen session for Detmers in spring training before handling his no-hitter.

“He’s a great dude,” Detmers said. “He studies, does his job, and obviously I have to do my job. He knows what he’s doing behind the plate. He just sticks to the game plan.”

Romine said the Angels’ game plans are extensive enough that it’s not that difficult for the catchers, even though they are still getting to know the pitchers.

“It could be as hard as you make it,” Romine said. “The information and support that we have here, they made it really easy for us. It’s a really easy transition. A lot of work was done behind the scenes to get game plans together and put them into play.”

Maddon said Stassi and Suzuki are both “real close” to returning. He suggested they could be playing this weekend, although that might be for a rehab assignment.

PITCHING PLANS

Maddon confirmed that the Angels are planning to have Chase Silseth start again, but he couldn’t say which day they’ll insert him as the sixth starter in the rotation. Silseth pitched six scoreless innings in his major league debut last Friday, so he could pitch again anytime this weekend.

One of the issues is the Angels have off days on Thursday and next Monday, so if they use six starters this time through the rotation someone will get two extra days of rest.

Maddon doesn’t seem to be concerned about his pitchers getting too much rest, though. Michael Lorenzen has not been a starter for several years. Noah Syndergaard has missed most of the last two years rehabbing from Tommy John surgery. Shohei Ohtani, of course, can always use a little rest because he’s a two-way player.

“It’s good to give our guys a little bit of a break,” Maddon said.

NOTES

José Quijada (oblique) is scheduled to throw to hitters on Tuesday. Normally that would be one of the last steps before a rehab assignment. Quijada has been out since April 9. …

Luis Rengifo, who came out of Saturday night’s game when he was hit in the elbow by a pitch, said he’s available to play again.

UP NEXT

Angels (LHP Reid Detmers, 2-1, 3.77) at Rangers (LHP Taylor Hearn, 2-2, 5.26), Tuesday, 5:05 p.m., Bally Sports West, 830 AM