Lewis Still Waiting for His Fifth Shot at Fifth Spot in Rotation : Baseball: Angel pitcher is back in the minor leagues after going 1-3 with a 5.91 earned-run average in major league stint.

The clubhouse was small, the lighting dim, the towels threadbare. Weary from a flight that took them from Calgary to Vancouver and a three-hour bus ride from Vancouver to Tacoma, members of the Edmonton Trappers taped sore ankles, stretched cramped muscles and shelved thoughts of future major league glory to focus on the immediate, their Pacific Coast League game against the Tacoma Tigers.

For the fortunate few who know of the riches of major league meal money and dressed in the spacious luxury of the Angels’ clubhouse, returning to triple A isn’t easy.

“It’s been a long year,” pitcher Scott Lewis said. “A bad one.”

Lewis began the season with the Angels after beating out Joe Grahe during their spring-training competition for the fifth spot in the starting rotation. Mature at 25, owner of a lively fastball and a 13-11 record with the Trappers last season, Lewis was judged ready for a promotion. He thought he was ready, too.

Major league hitters told him otherwise.

Lewis was 1-3 with a 5.91 earned-run average when he was removed from the rotation May 14. He then was used in relief, but also was given three more chances to keep his place in the rotation.

While he flailed, the Angels signed Fernando Valenzuela to a minor league contract and proclaimed Valenzuela could step in if one of the starters faltered. Knowing they didn’t mean Chuck Finley, Jim Abbott, Kirk McCaskill or Mark Langston, an already teetering Lewis fell out of the rotation June 1, when he gave back all but two runs of a 6-0 lead the Angels had built in 1 1/2 innings. He returned to Edmonton June 4, going back in body but not in spirit.

Considered the most polished pitcher in the Angels’ minor league system, Lewis is 3-7 this season with a 5.38 ERA. Only now is he regaining the assurance that helped him win a place in the Angels’ rotation this spring.

“He’s getting back to the old Scott Lewis I used to know,” Edmonton Manager Max Oliveras said Saturday, after Lewis pitched eight solid innings in the Trappers’ 5-2 victory over the Tigers at Cheney Stadium. “This is the second or third outing in a row he was throwing well. The only reason I took him out is he threw 130 pitches, and usually after 120 I like to shut them down. I’d rather lose a game than lose an arm like Scotty’s.”

Lewis moved steadily up the minor league ladder after being drafted from Nevada Las Vegas in 1988, progressing from Bend to Quad City to Palm Springs in one season and to double-A Midland in 1989. After leading Midland with 11 victories and 104 strikeouts in 162 1/3 innings in 1989, he was moved up to Edmonton in 1990.

Still digesting his first encounter with failure, Lewis is reluctant to discuss his inability to win with the Angels.

“It was bad timing for everything to happen and they had to make a move,” he said. “I didn’t really lose confidence. I still don’t think I threw that bad. Things just didn’t fall into place.

“I never had a year like this. It was bound to come sooner or later. You’ve got to tough it out. You can’t give up because of that, if you’re anybody. They look at that too, when things aren’t going so well, how you do.”

But if Lewis has undergone a difficult learning process, at least it hasn’t been for nothing.

In watching Lewis’ struggles, the Angels were reminded that strong arms may be coupled with delicate psyches. The fifth spot in the rotation has remained a black hole, but they decided against trying left-hander Kyle Abbott there for fear of ruining the development of another top prospect.

Abbott, who graduated from Mission Viejo High School and attended Cal State Long Beach, has ranked among the PCL leaders in almost every pitching category this season, his first in triple A. At 12-9 with a 3.76 ERA and 105 strikeouts in 162 2/3 innings, he has pleased Angel officials and caught the attention of rival clubs.

The Angels claimed they couldn’t acquire a fifth starter because every deal hinged on them relinquishing Abbott, which they steadfastly refused to do. Still, with Lewis in mind, they won’t put Abbott, 23, into a major league uniform until they’re certain he’s thoroughly prepared. A call-up on Sept. 1, after rosters expand to 40, is the soonest he will appear in the major leagues.

“This is his first triple-A season and he’s still very, very young. The cautious approach is the best one,” Edmonton pitching coach Gary Ruby said of Abbott. “The more experience, more time on the mound he gets, the better off he’ll be. He’s having some kind of year. His ERA, innings pitched, everything is real positive, and we’d like to keep it positive.”

Dan O’Brien, the Angels’ senior vice president and acting general manager, agreed.

“I’m not convinced he’s ready to make the jump. I think he’s on schedule,” O’Brien said. “Learning to pitch in the major leagues may be a little more difficult than learning to hit.”

O’Brien wouldn’t say whether Abbott would be ready to join the Angels’ rotation next season.

“I wouldn’t rule it in or out,” he said. “Players make those decisions for you by what they do on the field.”

Angel pitching coach Marcel Lachemann views Abbott’s accomplishments with an approving but careful eye.

“He has had a very good season,” Lachemann said. “He has potential, but (he) has really not had a great deal of success prior to this year. He struggled in double A (6-9 for Midland last season) and pitched a few games in triple A. This year he came to spring training in good shape and did some things to change his delivery. You have to give somebody a chance to build a degree of success.”

Abbott, who has good velocity and an outstanding curveball, concedes he has been impatient for a summons to Anaheim.

“It can get to a point where you wonder why you’re not called up,” he said. “When you’re down here, what you want to do is learn, and when you’re winning, you’re a little more hard-pressed to say what you’re learning. But this game is humbling. . . .

“I understand what they’re doing, but sometimes it’s tough. You say, ‘Look what I’m doing,’ and other guys in the organization are doing what you’re doing and they get called up.”

When doubt strikes him, all Abbott has to do is look at Lewis--or at his own difficulties last season when he was promoted from Midland to Edmonton. At Edmonton, he gave up 17 earned runs in 10 1/3 innings for a 14.81 ERA.

“I learned from what happened to him, yeah,” Abbott said. “That’s been such an adjustment for me, too. I feel one of the strongest points to Kyle Abbott is my mental game and the confidence I take out there with me. It gets you through tough innings, and from start to start . . .

“The Angels have been a cautious organization--I think Jim Abbott (who went from college to the major leagues) was very much the exception to the rule. I wasn’t going to let that get me down.”

Joining the Angels’ rotation next year is his goal, and it’s not impossible. The fifth spot has yet to be filled and another vacancy might be created if right-hander Kirk McCaskill, who is eligible for free agency after the season, signs with another club.

“I’d like to think I’ll be there,” Abbott said. “That’s up to them. I want to be as ready as possible.”

It’s still possible for Lewis to salvage this season. He’s also likely to be added to the roster on Sept. 1.

“It’s been very difficult for Scotty for a lot of reasons,” Ruby said. “We feel over the last four, five starts he’s getting it back. I have to say at this point he’s far from being defeated.”

Lewis no longer makes predictions.

“I just do whatever I can,” he said. “I’ve just got to tough it out and hope for the best.”