OC Register: How the Angels 2019 starting rotation looks without Shohei Ohtani

[AngelsWin.com]

CHICAGO — As if the Baseball Gods were playing a cruel joke on the Angels, they received devastating news about their 2019 rotation just as it was starting to come together.

Shohei Ohtani, their most talented pitcher, is not going to be able to pitch next season, assuming he follows the recommendation to have Tommy John surgery. Their most talented starter came off the 2019 depth chart in a seven-day stretch that was otherwise filled with good news about the rotation’s future.

Andrew Heaney pitched six scoreless innings against the Houston Astros and added another six against the Texas Rangers, running his streak to 26 consecutive starts without a missed assignment.

Matt Shoemaker returned from five months on the disabled list to pitch five scoreless innings against the Rangers, further proving to him that the forearm issue that’s nagged him for two seasons is now solved.

Jaime Barría pitched five scoreless innings against the Rangers, reaching double figures in victories with a 3.30 ERA over 22 starts as a 22-year-old rookie.

Felix Peña gave up one earned run in seven innings against the Astros, lowering his ERA to 3.95 in his first 13 major league starts.

Even Tyler Skaggs, who is on the disabled list with a groin issue, threw off a mound in Arizona, taking a step closer to his planned return for the final three weeks of the season. Skaggs had a 2.62 ERA through 19 starts before he tried to pitch around the injury in two bad starts.

“I’m loving it,” Manager Mike Scioscia said of the rotation’s progress. “This is what your team has to do. You need that rotation to be the heartbeat of your club. We pitched terrific baseball baseball in Houston and we came to Texas and pitched great. That has to be the core of your club. We missed it for three years, if you go back to the injuries that started in 2016.”

Over the past three years, Garrett Richards, Nick Tropeano, Heaney, Skaggs and Shoemaker all missed significant chunks of multiple seasons.

Ohtani, who has missed more than half of 2018 and now all of 2019, is yet another name to add to that list, although he has yet to officially decide to have surgery.

However, there are still pieces left to build a good starting rotation in 2019, even without Ohtani.

“Hopefully between me, Shoe, Barría, Peña all being healthy, and hopefully Skaggs and Trope should be healthy, we have depth,” Heaney said. “I don’t think that’s ever been the issue. It’s just been maintaining it.”

If you’re looking for reasons to be optimistic that the remaining pitchers in the rotation will be healthier next season, this season provided some. Heaney, Barría and Skaggs have largely gotten through the season without any arm problems. Heaney missed the first two weeks with elbow inflammation, but it was so minor that he stopped throwing for only a few days.

Shoemaker’s injury didn’t involve his shoulder or elbow. Although the split pronator tendon wasn’t diagnosed for nearly a year — until he underwent exploratory surgery — he said the surgery was ultimately an easy fix.

Those four provide the building blocks for the 2019 rotation. Skaggs and Shoemaker are under control for two more years, Heaney for three and Barría for six.

Tropeano is probably a notch below the others in terms of his performance and reliability, because he’s had shoulder trouble. Shoulder injuries are typically tougher to overcome than elbow problems.

Peña hasn’t quite pitched enough to be counted on as a major part of the 2019 rotation, but he’s shown he can certainly contribute. The Angels’ top two pitching prospects — Griffin Canning and José Suarez — also finished the season at Triple-A, indicating they figure to reach the majors sometime next year.

Even with all of those names, the Angels would be smart to add, as even Heaney admits.

“I think we’ve proven there’s no such thing as enough depth in our starting rotation,” he said.

The Angels figure to go into the winter about $40 million under the luxury-tax threshold, allowing for room to shop for a free-agent starter. They also now have enough prospects in their improved farm system that they could consider trading for a starter.

The free-agent pitchers at the top of the market would seem to be Dallas Keuchel, Patrick Corbin, Charlie Morton and J.A. Happ. Gio Gonzalez and Lance Lynn are coming off seasons that haven’t been up to their standards for performance, but both have been exceptionally durable.

On the trade market, Madison Bumgarner and Zack Wheeler are the top potential one-season rentals. Aaron Sanchez and Marcus Stroman each have two years to go.

If the Angels want to go big and trade for a starter, they could even take a look at Jacob deGrom, Noah Syndergaard or Michael Fulmer. Any of those would obviously cost a large chunk of the Angels’ newly rebuilt farm system.

Between the pieces the Angels have left and what’s available on the market, there’s no reason to think they can’t assemble a quality rotation in 2019, even without Ohtani.

And general manager Billy Eppler has said often the Angels aren’t going to take a step back to rebuild, a point that he reiterated in the wake of the Ohtani news Wednesday.

“We’re going to continue to invest in this club,” he said. “We’re going to continue to improve this club and watch the development of some young players emerging into the major leagues, be open-minded into the trade market and free-agent market and put together a contending team for next season. That’s our goal.”

UP NEXT

Angels (RHP Felix Peña, 1-4, 4.19) at White Sox (LHP Carlos Rodon, 6-4, 2.89), Friday, 5 p.m., Fox Sports West, KLAA (830 AM).

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