Rapp the Realist Not Expecting to Return

The Angels wanted innings, and Pat Rapp gave them innings, 1611/3 of them and counting going into Saturday’s start against Minnesota. The Angels wanted Rapp to remain healthy, and he did, making every start until this week, when he was pushed back four days in the rotation because of a bruised right forearm. The Angels got an added bonus in that Rapp was effective, his 4.57 earned-run average keeping the team in most games but a lack of run support turning his record (5-11) into something of an eyesore.

For all that, Rapp, the journeyman who has played for six teams in the past five seasons, will likely be looking for work this winter. Again. “I don’t think there’s much of a chance of me being back here next year,” Rapp said. “That’s what I say every year, and it’s always true. I just tried to do what they asked me to do, put up innings and starts. I didn’t give them wins, but I gave them innings and starts.”

Rapp, making $2 million, is a realist. He knows the Angels needed him to plug a hole in the rotation this season while younger pitchers such as Matt Wise and John Lackey developed in the minor leagues. He also knows he’s not the world’s most dominant pitcher, that he’ll never be more than a No. 4 or 5 in any rotation, and that the Angels would prefer to pay Wise or Lackey $200,000 to fill the role next season that Rapp filled this season.

“They’ve seen what they needed to see,” Rapp said. “Maybe if the first half was different and runs were scored and I had a good string of quality starts, my record would look better. Then you look better. It’s always about your record. They don’t look at other numbers that much unless you have a sub-2.00 ERA or something.”

General Manager Bill Stoneman said Rapp’s situation “will be examined when the season is done,” but Rapp isn’t holding out much hope. “It would be great to stay around one team a couple years, but that’s not the way the market goes,” Rapp said. “Teams want to either upgrade to more expensive pitchers or go with youth.”

*

Utility player Shawn Wooten’s season is over after an MRI test Wednesday revealed torn cartilage in his left wrist. Wooten will undergo arthroscopic surgery on the wrist soon, but Manager Mike Scioscia believes he will return at full strength next season.

Wooten spent most of the first half as a reserve catcher and part-time first baseman, but he hit so well (.312, eight home runs, 32 runs batted in) he became the team’s full-time designated hitter after the All-Star break. Wooten left the team for a week in early August to be with his father, who passed away after battling lung cancer. He started seven games at DH until the wrist became too sore to swing a bat last week.

TONIGHT

ANGELS’

SCOTT

SCHOENEWEIS

(10-9, 5.16 ERA)

vs.

ROYALS’

PAUL BYRD

(6-6, 3.67 ERA) Edison Field, 7 p.m.

TV: Channel 9.

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

Update: David Eckstein was hit by a pitch in the seventh inning Wednesday night, the 17th time this season he has been hit by a pitch. That tied the American League rookie record for hit by pitches, set by Detroit’s Heinie Manush in 1922, and is one shy of the Angel team record of 18, set by Don Baylor in 1979 and Rick Reichert in 1968. Schoeneweis looks to rebound after a subpar five-inning, five-run, nine-hit effort in Saturday’s 11-9 victory over Minnesota.

Tickets--(714) 663-9000.