Angels call up Garrett Richards for ‘one start or 10’

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Jered Weaver would have started for the Angels on Wednesday, but he is serving a suspension, so the Angels replaced him with their top pitching prospect, Garrett Richards.

But the Angels might not return Richards to the minor leagues, even though Weaver will miss just one start. With Joel Pineiro moved to the bullpen for now, a solid start on Wednesday could keep Richards in the rotation.

‘I don’t know if it’s going to be one start or 10 starts,’ Angels Manager Mike Scioscia said.

Richards, 23, will make his major league debut at Yankee Stadium, against a team that leads the major leagues in home runs.

‘I think it’s great,’ Scioscia said. ‘I think it’s a great challenge for a youngster. We think he’s going to pitch his game.

‘If you can come into an atmosphere like Yankee Stadium and pitch a good game, you know how much confidence you take away from that?’

Scioscia said he did not want to disrupt the bullpen for one spot start. Richards was summoned from double-A, just as Tyler Chatwood and Ervin Santana were before him.

‘His stuff is just as electric as Chatwood’s or Santana’s when we brought them up,’ Scioscia said.

Richards, a right-hander, is 12-2 with a 3.06 earned-run average at double-A Arkansas, with 40 walks and 100 strikeouts in 140 innings. He has worked at least six innings in nine of his past 10 starts, with a 6-1 record and 2.56 ERA in that span.

The Angels selected Richards in the first round of the 2009 draft, as a compensation pick for losing Francisco Rodriguez in free agency.

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-- Bill Shaikin in New York