Angels encouraged by Aaron Loup’s recent performance
ANAHEIM — Aaron Loup has gradually been rediscovering himself this season.
The Angels’ left-hander got off to a good start this season, but endured a terrible stretch just at the time that most of the rest of the team was falling apart.
Now, although it’s certainly too late for this season, Loup’s resurgence provides some hope that the Angels can get value out of him next year. The Angels signed him to a two-year, $17-million deal last winter.
“We feel like his stuff’s back,” manager Phil Nevin said. “He had a little dead period maybe. For a guy that’s pitched as long as he has, he’s never going to tell you one way or the other. He’s just, ‘Give me the ball.’ He wants the ball. For a time there I think he was a little bit tired and it showed. And we got him back fresh.”
Loup, 34, began his season with a 1.62 ERA and a WHIP of 0.60 in his first 17 games. From May 21 to June 5, Loup had a 17.18 ERA. Not coincidentally, the Angels’ 14-game losing streak came during that period.
Since then, though, Loup has a 3.49 ERA and a 1.30 WHIP over 29 games. Since Aug. 3, his ERA is 1.46 and his WHIP is 1.05 over 11 games. (He did allow four unearned runs in one game during that stretch.)
On Tuesday night, Loup retired four of five hitters he faced and he tried something new. He threw 16 pitches and all of them were sinkers. Normally, he throws his sinker about half the time, with the rest divided between his cutter and his changeup. He throws the changeup only to righties.
“He was working on something,” Nevin said with a smile. “I’ll let him know maybe not in a one-run game next time.”
Pitching with a 3-2 lead in the seventh, Loup allowed a double off the left-field fence, but he then retired the next hitter to strand the runner.
DETMERS’ SCHEDULE
Left-hander Reid Detmers will next start on Monday at Cleveland, which will give him nine days between starts. Detmers’ turn would have been Friday, but Michael Lorenzen is coming off the injured list to start that game. Shohei Ohtani then starts on Saturday and Tucker Davidson on Sunday.
“It was more to give him an extra two days of rest, kind of a little bit of a reset and push to the rest of the season,” Nevin said. “He’s in an area where he hasn’t been before. Do we see signs of being tired? I don’t know. I think the stuff’s still good, still coming out good. I just want him to be as strong as he can to finish the year. This is the only time to give him those extra two-three days.”
Detmers, 23, is in his first full big league season. He has pitched 114 innings, all but six of them in the majors. The Angels drafted him in 2020 and he didn’t throw his first professional pitch until May 2021. He pitched 62 innings in the minors and 20-2/3 in the majors in 2021.
Detmers pitched a no-hitter in May, then slumped. During a brief trip back to the minors he rediscovered a mechanical tweak that improved his slider. Since returning, he has a 2.52 ERA in nine starts.
Moving back Detmers’ next start also allows him to pitch against the Guardians instead of this weekend against the Houston Astros. Detmers has faced Houston three times this season, including last weekend in Anaheim. He gave up four runs in 4-1/3 innings last Friday, although two of them scored after he was out of the game.
NOTES
Mike Trout was in the lineup on Wednesday, even though Nevin’s original plan was to give him the day off. Trout told Nevin that he was feeling good and wanted to continue playing. Trout may get a day off for one of the day games on the upcoming trip. Trout had hit homers in three straight games before Wednesday, giving him 31 for the season…
Angels players were set to wear NFL jerseys for the flight to Houston after Wednesday’s game, one of the theme travel days they have occasionally.
UP NEXT
Angels (RHP Michael Lorenzen, 6-6, 4.94) at Astros (RHP Lance McCullers Jr., 2-1, 2.08), Friday, 5:10 p.m., Bally Sports West, 830 AM