By James Bailey
Before the Angels celebrated their AL West-clinching victory Monday night, they took some time to remember—and honor—rookie pitcher Nick Adenhart, who was killed in a car accident the first week of the season. Adenhart threw six shutout innings in his only appearance for Los Angeles this year and looked to be a key component in what was once a battered starting rotation.
It’s taken most of the season for the starting five to round into form, but now, at last, they are all pitching well. Monday’s complete-game shutout put Ervin Santana at 5-2 with a 3.18 ERA since the beginning of August. Santana, who along with righthander John Lackey opened the year on the disabled list, still isn’t quite back to his 2008 form, but he’s a far cry from the guy who surrendered five or more runs in eight of 10 starts from late May to the end of July.
The addition of Scott Kazmir, who came over from the Rays at the end of August, has given the Angels one more solid starter than they need for October play. Kazmir is just 1-2 since the deal, but he’s posted a 2.01 ERA in five starts, allowing just 34 base runners in 31.1 innings.
Each starter is riding a streak into the playoffs. Here’s what they’ve done since they got hot:
| Pitcher | Since | W-L | ERA | IP | H | R | ER | HR | BB | SO |
| Scott Kazmir | 9/1 | 1-2 | 2.01 | 31.1 | 25 | 8 | 7 | 1 | 9 | 23 |
| John Lackey | 7/1 | 9-5 | 3.20 | 121.0 | 107 | 49 | 43 | 10 | 32 | 95 |
| Ervin Santana | 8/1 | 5-2 | 3.18 | 73.2 | 71 | 29 | 26 | 12 | 23 | 53 |
| Joe Saunders | 8/26 | 6-0 | 2.44 | 44.1 | 42 | 15 | 12 | 5 | 11 | 26 |
| Jered Weaver | 8/19 | 3-4 | 3.06 | 53.0 | 54 | 18 | 18 | 5 | 15 | 29 |
So who gets left out of the playoff rotation? The two lefties, Kazmir and Saunders, are pitching the best over the last month. Lackey, with 58.1 career postseason innings, has more playoff experience than the four others combined.
That leaves Weaver and Santana to scrap for the final slot, and playoff history might give the edge to Weaver, whose only postseason start came against the Red Sox in 2007. He pitched five innings, allowing three earned runs and took the loss. Not great, but when contrasted with Santana’s two playoff starts, it looks downright impressive. Santana has been torched for 10 runs in 9.2 innings in October starts against Chicago and Boston.
Santana has also publicly stated that he doesn’t care what his role is this fall. That makes the decision a little easier for manager Mike Scioscia, but the clincher is that Weaver was 1-0 with a 0.66 ERA in two starts against Boston this year.
Regardless of who the four are, the Angels have a luxury the other playoff teams (New York, Boston, and either Detroit or Minnesota) don’t have right now. They get to have this discussion in the first place.
The Yankees, whose offense has carried them through thick and thin since Alex Rodriguez returned to the lineup in early May, have serious questions beyond CC Sabathia. A.J. Burnett and Andy Pettitte will certainly be in their rotation, but neither is in peak mode at the moment. Joba Chamberlain, the likely fourth man, has surpassed four innings just once in his last seven starts.
The Red Sox are optimistic Jon Lester will be ready to go, but they can’t be certain what they will get from him until he takes the hill on Thursday and proves there are no lingering effects from the ball he took off his leg over the weekend. Josh Beckett, a renowned postseason warrior, skipped his start Monday due to back spasms. The Red Sox billed this as precautionary and expect him to be fine next week, but it’s not the preferred way to roll into October. Tim Wakefield walked seven in his only start since Sept. 5. He’s almost literally limping across the finish line. That puts a lot of pressure on Daisuke Matsuzaka, who has been solid in his three September starts after missing the previous three months, and young Clay Buchholz, who is 5-0 with a 1.32 ERA over his last six starts. Of course, those matchups have come against the Blue Jays, Royals, Orioles (twice), and faltering Rays (twice), so it’s hard to gauge how he’ll do against a winning club.
The Red Sox have history on their side, having knocked the Angels out of each of the last two Division Series. Boston went 6-1 against LA in the 2007-08 playoffs. The Angels get a shot at redemption, with a rotation on a roll, and an inspiration in Adenhart. Will it be enough? We’ll find out next week.
