L.A. Angels Should Bring Back 4-Man Rotation for the Stretch Run

The offense has officially come back to Earth, and it has hit the ground with a thud.

So naturally, the issue that needs to be addressed is pitching.

Once the most prolific lineup in baseball, the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim have scored just 34 runs in their last eight games.

Compare that to their 35-run barrage during a three-game sweep in Minnesota earlier this month.

But as good as they've been, the Angels bats have really overachieved during the last two months, scoring at a rate this franchise has never seen. So the recent hitting slump is nothing manager Mike Scioscia hasn't dealt with, and overcome, before.

In the past, the Angels have relied on outstanding pitching—from the starters and the relievers—to back their below average batters. 

This year, that hasn't been the case. 

Angels pitchers hold the third highest team ERA in the league, and quality starts are as rare as a rain-out in Anaheim.

In August alone, Halo hurlers have racked up a 5.08 ERA—the highest of any month for the team this season.

They've particularly struggled with starters at the back end of the rotation. 

Earlier in the season, pitchers like Shane Loux, Dustin Moseley, Matt Palmer, and Anthony Ortega did a poor job filling in for injured aces John Lackey, Kelvim Escobar, and Ervin Santana.

Even after they returned, Lackey and Santana struggled to find their All-Star form. 

Joe Saunders, who began the season strong, started bleeding runs and homers by the time the calendar switched to June.

But those days are behind us. 

After a quick stint on the DL to give his arm some rest, Saunders is looking strong once again, while Lackey and Santana have finally settled into a groove. 

With the exception of a couple shaky starts, Jered Weaver has also looked good this season, recording four complete games, including two shutouts.

The only question mark that remains with this rotation is the No. 5 spot.

Rookies Sean O'Sullivan and Trevor Bell were both given shots to secure the job for the stretch run. But after each failed to pitch more than two innings into their starts in Toronto, who will command the final spot remains a mystery.

Brad Penny's name has come up in rumors after he was released by the Red Sox on Thursday, and the Angels will certainly look at adding him to the roster.

But any move at this point is ultimately unnecessary.

The Angels have no solid options to fill the No 5. spot in the rotation, so why not just eliminate it?

Teams featured four-man rotations for decades before they started working a fifth pitcher into the mix. There is no reason the Angels can't bring those days back, if only for the final month of this season.

The argument that throwing a guy every fifth day saves his arm and helps prevent injuries has long been removed from conversation. 

Pitchers constantly suffer arm fatigue, shoulder soreness, forearm stiffness, finger blisters, cracked nails, and just about every other ailment you could conceive for an appendage.

They also seem to be on the DL far more often than position players.

So, pitching a guy like Lackey or Weaver on four days' rest should have no ill effects.

The Angels are also coming up on some very important series that they must survive if they hope to win a third consecutive division crown.

They face the bottom-dwelling Oakland A's—a deceptively talented squad that shut the Angels out on Thursday—nine more times and the second-place Texas Rangers seven more times before all is said and done.

Three of those games against the Rangers will be in Texas and come in the middle of a tough nine-game stretch in which the Angels will also face the Red Sox in Boston and the New York Yankees at home.

Reliable starting pitching will be key to getting through all of these matchups, and guys like O'Sullivan and Bell have proven they are not the answer.

Penny obviously hasn't done the job either. In 24 starts with the Red Sox, he accrued a shockingly high 5.61 ERA—far from an improvement over what the Angels have featured this season.

In truth, the No. 5 spot has only served as a speed bump this year, a place in the rotation the team has only hoped to get past in order to return to reliability at the top.

But by eliminating the spot altogether, the Angels can throw their stronger pitchers more often, giving them a far greater chance to succeed down the stretch and reach the postseason.

It is not likely that we will ever see a full-scale return to the four-man rotation, and the rookies who have appeared for the Angels have plenty of time to hone their craft before making a permanent leap to the bigs.

For now though, giving Lackey, Santana, Weaver, and Saunders an extra start each will do far more good for this team than continuing to feature a revolving door of mediocrity every fifth day.