Angels Will Be as Good as the Rotation

It begins today when Bartolo Colon, the 2005 American League Cy Young Award winner, starts the Angels’ season opener against the Mariners in Safeco Field.

The ball will then be handed to John Lackey, a young but seasoned right-hander who is looking to build on his breakthrough 2005 season, and Lackey will pass it to Jeff Weaver, a veteran innings-eater and control specialist known for his ability to keep his team in games.

Next in this right-handed rotation relay will be Kelvim Escobar, who has an impressive five-pitch repertoire that many consider Cy Young-caliber, and Ervin Santana, who dazzled and dominated at times as a rookie last season.

Then it’s back to Colon for what the Angels hope will be a season-long pattern, the turning over of a rotation that could be the deepest -- and possibly the best -- in the 45-year history of the franchise.

“It’s one of the best rotations we’ve had since I’ve been here,” said Preston Gomez, an Angel scout since 1982 and now special assistant to General Manager Bill Stoneman. “I like this rotation. There’s consistency and depth.”

Pitching coach Bud Black, an Angel since 2000, thinks this “potentially could be the best rotation we’ve seen here,” and that would be saying something.

Last year’s rotation of Colon, Lackey, Jarrod Washburn, Paul Byrd and Santana was as deep as any in recent history, combining for a 67-39 record and 3.64 earned-run average. Overall, Angel starters posted an AL-best 3.75 ERA.

But Colon, 32, is still in his prime, and Lackey, 27, and Santana, 23, return with more experience. Escobar, 29, the team’s best starter in 2004 before missing most of 2005 because of injuries, and Weaver, 29, who went 27-24 with a 4.11 ERA in 2004 and 2005 for the Dodgers, should be an upgrade over Byrd and Washburn.

“With the emergence of Santana and Lackey’s continuing development, with Bart’s experience and pedigree and what Escobar has done, with Weaver replacing Washburn ... it’s a nice blend of experience sprinkled with youth,” Black said.

Colon is the ace, “but we have a rotation of five No. 1 starters,” Weaver said. “It’s going to be tough to get through us. If everyone stays healthy and does what they’re capable of doing, we’ll have a chance to win a lot of ballgames.”

You have to go back 15 to 20 years to find comparable Angel rotations. Mark Langston, Chuck Finley and Jim Abbott combined to go 55-28 with a 3.21 ERA in 1991, but No. 4 starter Kirk McCaskill (10-19) led the AL in losses.

Pitching was the strength of the 1989 Angels, with Bert Blyleven, Finley, McCaskill, Abbott and Mike Witt combining to go 60-36 with a 3.00 ERA. The 1986 rotation had four standouts -- Witt, McCaskill, Don Sutton and John Candelaria, who combined to go 60-33 with a 3.20 ERA. But Ron Romanick struggled in the No. 5 spot.

The 1982 rotation featured five starters with winning records, as Geoff Zahn, Ken Forsch, Steve Renko, Bruce Kison and Witt combined to go 60-36 with a 3.75 ERA, statistically one of the Angels’ best rotations. But Forsch, now the Angels’ assistant GM, said the 2006 rotation is better.

“They have a Cy Young Award winner, there’s no limit to what Escobar can do, Weaver is a veteran, Lackey is a comer, and Santana

What separates this rotation from the 1982 staff, Forsch said, is stuff. Witt threw hard, but as Forsch recalled, when he and Zahn threw consecutive shutouts in Minnesota that season, the local papers referred to them as “the junk-balling right-hander and the crafty left-hander.”

Colon has a 97-mph fastball and mixes 92-mph cut fastballs and tailing fastballs with a breaking ball and changeup. Escobar has a 95-mph sinking fastball and four other quality pitches: split-fingered fastball, curve, slider and changeup.

Lackey has a 94-mph fastball, an outstanding curve, a cut fastball and a changeup. Weaver mixes a 91-mph sinking fastball with a slider and changeup, and Santana has a 95-mph fastball, a sharp-breaking slider and an improving changeup.

“No question, these guys have better stuff,” Forsch said. “Not to diminish Zahn, Witt and those guys ... but looking at the power arms, these guys, in my mind, are a lot better than we were.”

Dean Chance, Clyde Wright, Nolan Ryan and Frank Tanana each had superb seasons in the 1960s and 1970s, but it was rare for Angel rotations in those decades to go more than three deep with quality starters.

And that’s what could separate the 2006 rotation from so many others. The back end looks almost as good as the front. There is not a Pat Rapp, Ismael Valdes or Kent Bottenfield in the bunch.

“When you have guys like me and Ervin as your No. 4 and 5 guys, there aren’t many teams in the league that have that,” Escobar said.

The Angel rotation, which Manager Mike Scioscia likes to call his “five-cylinder engine,” appears to measure up with Oakland, Boston, the Chicago White Sox and Toronto, who have what many consider baseball’s best starting pitching. The Angels also will support their rotation with a deep and talented bullpen.

“You look at our starting five, and I don’t think you can get much better than that,” reliever Scot Shields said. “Then you throw in our bullpen ... we’ve had versatility in the past, but we’re even better this year. I look around this clubhouse, and I feel strongly about our chances.”

But Angel starters, no matter how favorably they stack up to rotations of the past and staffs around the league, won’t win on reputation.

“On paper, we have guys with good stuff who have done some good things in the big leagues, but you still have to go out there and do it,” Lackey said. “The past isn’t going to do anything for you.”

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TODAY

ANGELS’ BARTOLO COLON

VS. MARINERS’ JAMIE MOYER

at Seattle, 2, FSN West

Site -- Safeco Field.

Radio -- 710, 830.

Records (2005) -- Angels 95-67, Mariners 69-93.

Record vs. Seattle (2005) -- 9-9.

Update -- Colon has excelled in each of his previous two opening-day starts with the Angels, going 2-0 with a 0.71 earned-run average. The 43-year-old Moyer went 2-1 in five starts against the Angels last season and was 10-0 with a 2.95 ERA at Safeco Field.

Tuesday, 7 p.m. -- John Lackey (14-5, 3.44) vs. Joel Pineiro (7-11, 5.62).

Wednesday, 3:30 p.m. -- Jeff Weaver (14-11, 4.22) vs. Jarrod Washburn (8-8, 3.20).

-- Ben Bolch

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(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX)

Mound of strength

A look at the best rotations in Angel history:

*--* 2005

*--*

*--* Player Record ERA Bartolo Colon 21-8 3.48 John Lackey 14-5 3.44 Jarrod Washburn 8-8 3.20 Paul Byrd 12-11 3.74 Ervin Santana 12-8 4.65

*--*

*--* 1991

*--*

*--* Player Record ERA Mark Langston 19-8 3.00 Chuck Finley 18-9 3.80 Jim Abbott 18-11 2.89

*--*

*--* 1989

*--*

*--* Player Record ERA Bert Blyleven 17-5 2.73 Chuck Finley 16-9 2.57 Kirk McCaskill 15-10 2.93 Jim Abbott 12-12 3.92

*--*

*--* 1986

*--*

*--* Player Record ERA Mike Witt 18-10 2.84 Kirk McCaskill 17-10 3.36 Don Sutton 15-11 3.74 John Candelaria 10-2 2.55

*--*

*--* 1982

*--*

*--* Player Record ERA Geoff Zahn 18-8 3.73 Ken Forsch 13-11 3.87 Steve Renko 11-6 4.44 Bruce Kison 10-5 3.17 Mike Witt 8-6 3.51

*--*