Wise Is Likely Next Man in the Rotation

Now that the Angels have established three youngsters in their starting rotation, they’re ready to make room for a fourth.

When Bill Stoneman assumed his job as Angel general manager, before the 2000 season, he disdained expensive free-agent starters, deciding Ramon Ortiz, Scott Schoeneweis and Jarrod Washburn had the talent and the minor league experience to warrant spots in the rotation. The trio still is there, and now Stoneman is saying the same things about Matt Wise. “Matt is certainly ready to be here,” Stoneman said.

Wise, 25, went 9-9 with a 5.04 earned-run average this season at triple-A Salt Lake, where a high altitude and a high ERA go hand-in-hand. In 123 innings, he struck out 111 and walked 17. In six starts for the Angels earlier this season, Wise went 1-3 with a 4.30 ERA. He is anxious to win a job as a major league starter next spring.

“That’s been my goal my whole life,” he said. “I’m willing to do whatever I have to do to get to that point.”

Even if that includes stuffing his face. For the second straight offseason, he wants to put on weight. He gained 20 pounds last winter, to start this season at 197 pounds, and he finished at 189. He said he’ll use a two-pronged plan to gain weight: work with a nutritional consultant, and repeated trips to In-N-Out for double-double hamburgers.

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Pat Rapp, hit on his right forearm by a line drive in his last start, is expected to start as scheduled Saturday. He is not expected to return to the Angels next season, although the Angels got exactly what they asked from Rapp for their $2 million: lots of innings, and a year of reliability so that a youngster such as Wise could enjoy a year of development.

Rapp is 5-11 with a 4.57 ERA in 161 innings, although spotty run support cost him a chance at a .500 record. He’ll finish this season with his sixth consecutive losing record.

Darin Erstad has hit in each of the first three spots in the batting order this season, as Manager Mike Scioscia juggles various lineups to compensate for the absence of the injured Mo Vaughn and the recurrent slumps of Erstad and Tim Salmon.

When Vaughn returns next season, Scioscia said, Erstad probably will return to the leadoff spot, where he hit .355 last season, with a .409 on-base percentage. Erstad started Tuesday hitting .261, with a .332 on-base percentage.

TONIGHT

ANGELS’

ISMAEL VALDES

(8-9, 4.09 ERA)

vs.

ROYALS’

CHAD DURBIN

(7-13, 4.54 ERA)

Edison Field, 7

Radio: KLAC (570), XPRS (1090).

Update-Valdes pitched his only complete game this season against the Royals, a 7-1 victory on June 1.

Tickets-(714) 663-9000.