Angels’ Mike Scioscia appears safe even as his team falls to the Yankees, 7-0

Mike Scioscia walked to the mound in the fifth inning Friday night, clapped his hands once and took the ball from Jered Weaver, who trudged to the dugout after yielding four homers and 10 hits in a 7-0 loss to the New York Yankees in Angel Stadium.

It was a familiar scene that has played out often the last two seasons, but it probably won’t be repeated in 2017. Weaver, the 33-year-old right-hander with the fading fastball, is in the final weeks of a five-year, $85-million deal and is unlikely to garner much interest next winter unless he regains some velocity and takes a massive cut from the $20 million he made this season.

The managerial half of that picture will likely return, though. The Angels’ 51-71 record has thrust Scioscia’s name into stories speculating about which managers might be fired, but the temperature under the seat of baseball’s longest-tenured field boss is not as hot as some think.

“I have no reason to believe Mike won’t be here managing our team next season,” General Manager Billy Eppler said. “I think he’s done a great job. He’s dealt with multiple plates full of adversity and handled them with energy and passion. He’s kept guys optimistic, driven, and that’s the mark of a good leader.”

The rotation has been ravaged by injuries, with Andrew Heaney (in April), Garrett Richards (May) and Nick Tropeano (July) succumbing to season-ending elbow tears, C.J. Wilson lost for the year because of shoulder problems and Tyler Skaggs not returning from elbow surgery until late July.

“I go back to something Ernie Zampese told me when I was 11 years old,” Eppler said, referring to the former San Diego Chargers and Rams assistant coach. “He said, ‘You have to have the horses to pull the cart.’

“So if your horses get injured or can’t pull the cart for a while . . . you can only do so much.”

Weaver has been a horse — he hasn’t missed a start this season because of injury — but he’s had only a handful of games in which he’s resembled the ace who went 131-69 with a 3.28 earned-run average from 2006 to 2014.

Weaver is 8-11 with a 5.47 ERA and has allowed an American League-high 30 homers, including solo shots to Jacoby Ellsbury in the first inning and Ronald Torreyes, Didi Gregorius and Brian McCann in the fifth Friday night.

“When he’s going well, he has the ability to locate pitches and change speeds,” said Scioscia, who has two years and $12 million left on his contract. “He’ll give you four different looks on any count, which is tough for a hitter.”

But Weaver has no margin for error. When he’s off, like Friday night, his breaking balls hang and his fastball, which ranges from 82 to 85 mph, is useless. He was easily outpitched by Masahiro Tanaka, who allowed five hits and struck out nine in 7 2/3 innings.

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“Nothing hurts worse than letting your teammates down, and I’ve been doing it on a pretty consistent basis,” Weaver said. “This is definitely a tough pill to swallow.”

Weaver, who has battled shoulder, back and hip injuries, doesn’t need to morph into Nolan Ryan. His fastball averaged 86.3 mph when he went 18-9 with a 3.59 ERA in 2014, and he has touched 86 and 87 mph a few times this season.

“We all sense there could be a little more in him if some things are addressed in the off-season,” Scioscia said. “It’s not so much that he’s going to gain velocity, but he has to maintain it through a season. . . . Weav has shown he can have success pitching at 87 mph.”

mike.digiovanna@latimes.com

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