Finley Ailing, Might Be Out for Opener : Angels: Pitcher has experienced tenderness in upper arm. Lewis apparently will get fifth spot in rotation.

The readiness of Chuck Finley, the Angels’ top winner in 1990, was cast in doubt when Manager Doug Rader revealed Finley has experienced tenderness in his left biceps throughout training camp.

It also has become apparent that the fifth spot in the pitching rotation will go to Scott Lewis.

Rader likened Finley’s ailment to a tired arm and said there was no structural damage. But Rader said he and his coaches will “sit down and work out every possible scenario,” including the possibility of Finley missing his scheduled opening day start against the Seattle Mariners on April 9.

Finley, a 28-year-old left-hander whose earned-run average of 2.40 last season was second in the American Leagueonly to Boston’s Roger Clemens, has a spring ERA of 9.90. He gave up two home runs to Albert Belle, five walks and six runs in six innings Friday, and the Angels lost to the Cleveland Indians, 8-7.

Finley didn’t discuss his ailment, but Rader disclosed it to explain Finley’s woes this spring.

“Generally, you can pitch your way through it, but it hurts his extension and delivery. It’s 95% of his problem,” Rader said. “We might have to alter his workout schedule. . . . It’s no big deal, but it has had an effect on his consistency.”

Finley, who has had three six-run debacles in five appearances, was disgusted with his performance Friday.

“It was pretty (terrible),” he said. “I got the ball up, I was pitching behind in the count, that’s about it. That’s what got me in trouble, pitching behind in the count. It’s not my style. You’ve got to be precise as far as location and I grooved them down the middle. They were BP fastballs. . . .

“Everybody wants to do well in spring training. I’d be lying if I said I wouldn’t like to do that, too. Obviously, everyone’s in much higher spirits when they do well. But I’ve been around enough to know seasons aren’t made in spring training.”

Still, he plans to forget as much of this spring as quickly as possible.

“The whole thing has been screwed up the whole spring,” Finley said of his inability to find the form he had last season. “It comes and goes. I start off 2 and 0 on everybody instead of 0 and 1. It gets me into a situation where I’ve got to throw a strike, and when I did today, they hammered it. Spring training or otherwise, you’re not going to be an effective pitcher that way. . . .

“I know what it takes to win. I’ve had side days (throwing in the bullpen) where I’ve thrown great, but when you get in a game with somebody up there, it’s different. I can analyze it and say it’s the walks. I wasn’t getting my fastball over or my curveball. But I know I can get all those pitches over. I’ve just got to throw more strikes, that’s it. I’ve been in this situation before.”

Every indication this spring has pointed to Lewis beating Joe Grahe in their competition for the fifth starting berth while Bert Blyleven recovers from shoulder surgery. But Rader for the first time said he might keep both rookie right-handers. However, he said he would use Lewis only as a starter, but would consider having Grahe pitch in long relief.

“In the event we did keep a Joe Grahe, it would be a commitment to him as a long man and not as a starter for the time being,” Rader said. “And if he does start in the bullpen, that doesn’t mean that somewhere down the road he won’t be a starter. Baltimore broke in their starters that way.”

Asked if he would use Lewis as a reliever should Grahe eclipse Lewis to win the fifth starting job, Rader said, “I would say that would be a very remote possibility.”

Grahe pitched the final two innings of Friday’s game, hitting the first two batters he faced and giving up a run. He pitched two more innings under an agreement the Angels and Indians worked out to continue playing in order to give the pitchers extra work, and he did not allow another hit.

Although the conditions in his last two innings weren’t authentic, Grahe felt he couldn’t relax. “In the situation I’m in, I have to make it a real game,” said Grahe, whose ERA is 3.21 in 14 innings, compared with Lewis’ 5.09 in 17 2/3 innings.

“I can’t afford to make it BP, that’s for sure. I concentrated more because I had to guard against a letdown. It worked out. Maybe I should keep it going.”

He kept going Friday by thinking of something Lewis said after struggling against the Giants on Thursday.

“He said he didn’t fold and I remembered that after I hit those two guys,” Grahe said. “I gave up a ground ball (an RBI-single to Jose Escobar) but then I got two more ground balls, which is exactly what I had to do. I had to turn a negative situation into something positive and I did.”

He’s positive he’d prefer pitching out of the Angels’ bullpen to starting for triple-A Edmonton. “Judge by the difference in the paychecks,” said Grahe, who signed a split contract for $105,000 in the major leagues and $37,000 in the minors.

Angel Notes

Left-hander Bob McClure, who has had problems with his pitching shoulder, threw five minutes of long toss and 12 minutes off the mound Friday. However, he hasn’t yet thrown any breaking balls and no timetable has been set for his return. Because of McClure’s and Bert Blyleven’s infirmities, Manager Doug Rader said he’s now leaning toward keeping 11 pitchers instead of 10, as he had been considering. The Angels have 35 players in camp, including 17 pitchers, and Rader planned to make a cut before the club leaves Palm Springs on Wednesday. . . . Scott Bailes pitched in the extra innings and again allowed no runs. Mike Fetters, however, was hit hard and his chances of winning a bullpen spot may be dwindling.