Schoeneweis May Be Exceptional Angel

If Scott Schoeneweis isn’t the great equalizer, maybe the young left-hander will at least renew the Angels’ faith in the law of averages.

Angel draft history is littered with shattered shoulders and elbows, leaving a trail of promising pitching careers cut short by injury, and the Angels seemed to be asking for more trouble when they homed in on Schoeneweis.

Schoeneweis overcame testicular cancer in his freshman year at Duke, he had elbow reconstruction surgery after his sophomore season and the Angels still selected him with their third-round pick after Schoeneweis’ senior year in 1996.

But instead of breaking down like so many other Angel pitching prospects, Schoeneweis has gone 26-16 in three minor league seasons and is considered the top pitcher in the Angel farm system.

“I had a lot of strikes against me going in,” Schoeneweis, 25, said. “They probably thought I had a lot of resolve, that I’d been through some tough things, some of the things I’ll have to face in the big leagues. They took a chance on me. Hopefully I’ll keep my end of the bargain.”

Schoeneweis, who relies primarily on his fastball and slider, leads a new crop of pitching prospects the Angels believe will end a long string of disappointments and carry their rotation into the next century.

The group includes Jarrod Washburn, a 24-year-old left-hander who went 6-3 for the Angels last season; Ramon Ortiz, a 23-year-old right-hander from the Dominican Republic who appears to have regained his 94-mph fastball this spring after breaking his elbow last season; Mark Harriger, a 23-year-old right-hander whose 91-mph fastballs have good sinking action, and Seth Etherton, a 22-year-old right-hander who was the Angels’ first-round pick from USC last June.

There’s a good chance those five will begin this season at triple-A Edmonton or double-A Erie. The Angels also have some outstanding lower-level power-pitching prospects in Brandon Emanuel and Matt Wise, who are both 6 feet 4 with 90-mph fastballs, and Francisco Rodriguez, a 17-year-old from the Dominican Republic who signed for $900,000 this past winter and has already been clocked at 90 mph.

“I think the best group is the one coming,” said Bob Fontaine, Angel director of scouting and player personnel. “You’re talking about some power arms with good control, guys who can sink the ball and throw changeups and have good mental makeup. We think it’s a good young crop of kids who don’t pitch one way. We feel good about them.”