Lackey Could Provide Big Boost

Kevin Appier is “a little inconsistent right now,” Angel Manager Mike Scioscia said. Ramon Ortiz “has struggled at times with his pitch selection and is not aggressive with his fastball.” Aaron Sele “has gotten the ball up.” Scott Schoeneweis is in the bullpen because the balls he threw kept getting hit. Hard. And often.

Scioscia says his pitching staff isn’t in a slump and isn’t a concern. He says John Lackey doesn’t need to be a shot of adrenaline. “We’re not at that point,” Scioscia says.

But the big, tall, strong-armed, soft-spoken, startlingly confident Lackey, a 23-year-old fastballer from Abilene, Texas, could be the kind of double shot of espresso the Angel pitching staff can use.

Lackey is getting his second big-league start tonight against the Dodgers. In his first start last week, Lackey wasn’t flustered when Alex Rodriguez hit a 433-foot home run off his fastball in the first inning.

“That might bother some young pitchers,” Angel pitching coach Bud Black said. “Not this kid. I like his makeup.”

The next batter, Juan Gonzalez, struck out. “I was mad at myself but didn’t lose confidence,” Lackey said. “I know I can pitch.”

The teams that stick around division races and challenge for playoff spots find help in unlikely places.

Starting for the Dodgers will be Odalis Perez, considered by some the throw-in part of the Gary Sheffield-Brian Jordan trade. Perez is 9-3 with a 2.33 earned-run average and is looking very much the part of staff ace with Kevin Brown on the disabled list.

Lackey is not about to become the ace. But only Ortiz and Jarrod Washburn have been reliable Angel starters lately. In July the Angels have five games against Oakland, six against Seattle, three against the Red Sox and two against Minnesota. All these teams are division leaders or close to it. All these teams can hit.

For a young pitcher with a live arm and an unbending will, this is an excellent opportunity.

In Abilene, Lackey was the consummate athlete. He was the starting quarterback and captain of the football team, the starting center on the basketball team and the all-state player at first base for the baseball team. He never had time to sit back and learn how to pitch and not just whip the ball as hard as he could toward the plate.

“I didn’t pitch but 14 innings or so in high school,” Lackey says. “The football coach didn’t want me to hurt my arm.”

Lackey played a year at University of Texas Arlington, where he was mostly a first baseman again. “I pitched a little,” Lackey says. “Maybe 14 more innings.”

The summer after his freshman year, Lackey played in the Jayhawk League, a wood-bat league in Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas for college kids. He started pitching. He had also decided to transfer to Grayson Junior College in Denison because he wanted to end up at Texas Tech.

At Grayson, finally, Lackey became mostly a pitcher. Not always, but mostly. And he never made it to Texas Tech, despite getting a scholarship offer, because the Angels drafted him in the second round.

After 3 1/2 seasons in the minors, where he learned to control his emotions and his fastball, Lackey stands on the home grass on the day before his first home start. He is the last Angel off the field after batting practice.

He had stayed a few extra moments on the outfield grass stretching and looking around while his teammates jogged into the clubhouse. His locker has no nameplate yet. You must look for his uniform, No. 41, to find where the 6-foot-6, 210-pound rookie has dropped his bags.

Lackey was the losing pitcher at Texas last week, but he pitched well. He gave up two other runs after the A-Rod blast. He struck out six and walked one while keeping the Angels in a game that they eventually lost, 3-2.

And then Lackey was sent back to triple-A Salt Lake City. The Stingers were in Edmonton, where he threw on the side for two days. Meanwhile, middle reliever Al Levine went on the disabled list and Schoeneweis went to the bullpen. Lackey was summoned from Edmonton.

Angel General Manager Bill Stoneman called Lackey’s Salt Lake season “fabulous.” Scioscia says Lackey has “a great presence on the mound. He might not be executing his pitches perfectly but he stays right in focus.” It was as if Scioscia was speaking directly to his staff.

Black says Lackey has a fastball that can rise in the strike zone and reach 95 mph. He has a curve, a slider and a changeup. He has, says Black, “a real belief in himself. He is not cocky, but he is confident.”

About 200 friends and family, including his father, Derran, watched John pitch at Texas. Derran will be on the Internet tonight, because the Abilene Lackeys have no satellite dish. “You don’t just go out and buy those things on a whim,” Derran said from home Saturday.

Maybe if John gets a locker nameplate, Derran can get that dish. And the Angel fans can maybe dream that Lackey might turn out even a little like another tall Texan who played in Anaheim. John Lackey’s hero, Nolan Ryan.

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Diane Pucin can be reached at [email protected].