Little did Joe Maddon know how prophetic he would sound when the Angels manager was asked before Tuesday night’s game to assess the progress of pitcher Reid Detmers, a 22-year-old left-hander who was occasionally effective but mostly erratic in his first five starts.
“It’s better, but it’s not as good as it can be,” Maddon said. “He’s got great command, good stuff, great makeup, but I don’t think he’s actually executed a game plan with any kind of consistency. So, he’s gonna get better. But to this point, we haven’t seen the best side of him yet.”
They did Tuesday night.
