ANAHEIM, Calif._Ricky Nolasco does not expect to start again this season, although his manager, Mike Scioscia, was unwilling to say as much Tuesday night.
If this is the end for Nolasco's first stint as an Angel, it was a good one. Since the Aug. 1 trade in which Minnesota sent him to Anaheim, Nolasco has logged a 3.21 earned-run average in 73 innings, including eight superb innings Tuesday night at Angel Stadium in his team's 8-1 victory over Oakland. Nolasco was charged with one unearned run.
The Angels scored seven runs in the fourth inning, a fierce rally capped by a grand slam from rookie Jefry Marte, the man without a position but with plenty of power.
In all in Anaheim, Nolasco has struck out 51 men and issued 15 walks, at first struggling but rebounding to record a strong September. Meantime, the man he was traded for, Hector Santiago, has authored a 6.22 ERA, with a 31-19 strikeout-walk ratio.
"I don't know if he was quite as crisp with his command, but he definitely had his breaking ball there, both of them," Scioscia said of Nolasco. "He pitched well. He pitched through some stuff. When he was really on, for a couple starts there, you saw the great fastball command. He was not quite as crisp tonight, but that was a strong eight innings."
Although Scioscia has said several times the 33-year-old right-hander is deploying his breaking balls differently as an Angel, Nolasco believes he throwing both his curveball and slider at the same rate as before _ sometimes often, sometimes not so much. The evidence supports that assertion.
Increasing his usage of his signature sinker, rather, is responsible for the improvement. Pitching coach Charles Nagy pitched that to him as soon as he arrived, Nolasco said.
Scioscia has refused to answer questions about next season throughout the second half of this one, even this month, as next season becomes close enough even the players are discussing it. But, he allowed Tuesday night, the quest to succeed next season has to be in sight at all times.
"You need to keep getting better, and Ricky's doing that," Scioscia said. "It's really encouraging."
Nolasco awoke Sunday morning to a text containing a link. He clicked it, where he learned to disbelief that his friend former teammate, Jose Fernandez, died in a boating accident off the coast of Miami.
"You have to sit down for a few hours, just to fathom that this really happened," Nolasco said. "These last few days have been some pretty somber days. You can't stop thinking about it. You don't want to believe it. It's been tough. It's going to be tough."
Nolasco said he cannot yet bear to watch any video from the two uplifting games the Marlins have played since Fernandez's death.
"It's heartbreaking right now," he said. "Not just for his friends and teammates, but, to think about the pain his mom and grandma feel, that's been the most difficult part."
