Angels show perseverance through hits to rotation

LOS ANGELES — Woody Allen is credited with the line, “If you want to make God laugh tell him your plans.”

The Angels, the ones from Anaheim, are living it.

When Spring Training opened, the Angels felt they were well armed. They had eight legitimate candidates for their big league rotation. They had the kind of depth that gave the Angels every reason to feel the rotation was going to be a strength.

Now look at them.

Four of those eight candidates are on the disabled list — left-hander Tyler Skaggs (recovering from 2014 Tommy John surgery), lefty C.J. Wilson (out since spring with shoulder tendinitis), and in-season casualties lefty Andrew Heaney and right-hander Garrett Richards (ulnar collateral ligament tears in their pitching elbows).

The four remaining starters — Jered Weaver, Matt Shoemaker, Hector Santiago and Nick Tropeano — have a combined 5.12 ERA. Oh, and that doesn’t include Cory Rasmus giving up five runs in 2 1/3 innings in an emergency start in a 5-2 loss to Tampa Bay on May 6.

“Right now,” admitted manager Mike Scioscia, “we are a little thin.”

How thin?

Thin enough that on Monday reports surfaced that the Angels are on the verge of signing Tim Lincecum, pending a physical. He hasn’t pitched since June 27 but underwent offseason hip surgery in hopes he can reclaim the abilities he showed with the Giants from 2007-11 when he won two National League Cy Young Awards, was a four-time All-Star and had a 2.98 …

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