The Angels won the AL West and had the best record in baseball last season, but ultimately fell short of the ultimate prize. To get over the hump in 2015, they’ll need an even better performance from a solid group of starters.
Soft-tossing ace Jered Weaver will open the season Monday and will be followed by lefty C.J. Wilson, who aims to bounce back from a disappointing 2014 season. Late blooming 28-year old Matt Shoemaker is slotted third following an impressive rookie season and Hector Santiago rounds out the early season four-man rotation.
Manager Mike Scioscia wants to give 2014 breakout right-hander Garrett Richards two more rehab starts before he joins the mix in early to mid April following a knee injury he suffered in August.
"“In Garrett’s best interest, he needs to finish this out in the right sequence and not try to rush any steps or miss any steps,” Scioscia said last week. “There’s no doubt that I think his arm is showing that it’s where it needs to be. There’s a lot more in play in this game than just throwing the ball over the plate and getting your pitches to work. He needs to see how he rebounds; he needs to get into a real game where you don’t have the safety net of rolling an inning over and see how he responds when he has to throw 30 pitches in an inning. “I think there’s a lot of things that are still a little bit open-ended with Garrett. But he’s close, we’re excited about it. He had a great workout today down there.”"
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The Angels traded long-time second baseman to the Dodgers for former Marlins top prospect Andrew Heaney last winter, which means he’ll be in the rotation sooner rather than later. Nick Tropeano put up a fight for a spot in the rotation during spring training before being sent to Triple-A.
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