Angels look to maximize extra rest early for ace Garrett Richards

Across baseball, talent evaluators uniformly agree: Garrett Richards is the Angels’ best starting pitcher. Given that he will pitch the 2017 season with an elbow regenerated by his own stem cells, he might also be the most uncertain.

The ordering of their remaining starters engenders more disagreement. Matt Shoemaker was the best a season ago. Tyler Skaggs was the biggest prospect on his way through the minors and may retain the most potential. Ricky Nolasco has been doing this the longest and might be the most dependable. Jesse Chavez has always been good in seasons’ first halves.

Last December, manager Mike Scioscia called Richards the “lead dog” in his rotation, and described Shoemaker pitching “like a legitimate No. 1” for a 12-start stretch over the summer.

But neither man will draw the opening-day start on Monday night at the Oakland Coliseum. Instead, it’ll be Nolasco. As the day approached, it was clear that Nolasco or Shoemaker would be the choice, but the Angels had ample time early in the spring to structure the rotation however they sought.

So, as opposing scouts have wondered for weeks now, why is Richards pitching third and not first? One reason: This way, his second scheduled start of the season will come with an extra day of rest, free of charge. Had he been first or second, he’d have to come back on regular rest.

Saturday, Scioscia insisted that was not the Angels’ major motivation, while adding little clarity to any others.

“I think that’s one peripheral positive that came from the way they lined up,” the manager said. “I wouldn’t say that’s why we lined up that way. We wanted to make sure that these guys got to be where they needed to be. And if we had to push them back to the back end, we’d miss the first turn and they’d be ready.

“It was much easier to manage doing it this way than try to roll somebody forward when they weren’t ready to.”

Neither Shoemaker nor Richards missed a spring start. Neither demonstrated any signs of injury. Skaggs was skipped once because of shoulder weakness and treated carefully thereafter, but he has since been deemed fit to pitch Thursday in Oakland.

All the orchestration fosters some wonder: How capably can this grouping be managed this season? Among them, they’ve thrown 200 innings in a season only three times.

Scioscia said Nolasco has a chance to “really be a force for us in our rotation this year.” The coaching staff is encouraged by the two-month stretch he logged last summer after his acquisition from Minnesota.

Scioscia also repeated his declaration that Richards will not be throwing 115 pitches early in the season, as the 28-year-old right-hander volunteered when he arrived at spring training. But he declined to specify Richards’ restraints further.

“When you talk about 100 pitches, it’s always a natural benchmark,” Scioscia said. “He’s thrown more than that in games and been fine previously. The only thing I’m going to say about that is, yes, we’ve looked at some stuff under the circumstances. … Whatever that range is gonna be, it’ll be a range where we feel it’s not going to be a risk, and he’s going to be able to bounce back from it.

“There are other things that we’re looking at other than just pitch count.”

Even on the back fields in spring training, the Angels monitored Richards’ velocity down to a decimal and, in revolutions per minute, his spin rate on every pitch. He excels in terms of spin. His natural manner of throwing has made it difficult for opponents to hit home runs, particularly off his breaking balls.

If his spin rate is decreasing within a game, it’s a good bet that he’s tiring. But it seems fair to say the Angels have not yet decided exactly how they will govern Richards this season.

“We want to see if there’s a safe pitch count range that becomes tangible,” Scioscia said, referencing pitchers who’ve returned from elbow injuries via non-surgical means. “Pitch counts, things that are public record, are shared. We see how guys can respond. Our medical staff has looked into some of those. [General manager] Billy Eppler’s looked into some of those.

“It’s gonna be common sense. We’re not gonna use extremes with a guy like Garrett.”

Nolasco is 34, in a potential contract year, and hoping to throw 202 1/3 innings to guarantee himself his $13-million vesting option for next season. Perhaps he’ll push himself to his extremes.

pedro.moura@latimes.com

Twitter: @pedromoura