Angels have no plans to use Garrett Richards on short rest in Oakland

Reporting from Arlington, Texas —  The way the Angels rotation is set up, they will not have their most effective pitcher starting in any of the three games at Oakland next weekend.

Garrett Richards, who is 12-4 with a 2.54 earned-run average and 157 strikeouts in 159 2/3 innings, will start Friday night against the Texas Rangers, and the right-hander’s next start is scheduled for Wednesday night in Boston.

That means Richards will not start against the American League West-leading Athletics next weekend. Left-handers Hector Santiago and C.J. Wilson and right-hander Jered Weaver are lined up to start in Oakland.

Richards, who has already passed his career high for innings in a season, could pitch in Oakland if Manager Mike Scioscia was willing to start the 26-year-old on three days rest, but that’s not a card Scioscia is willing to play right now.

“It’s too early,” Scioscia said. “We have a lot of baseball left, and we want to make sure guys are rested. If we have to bring some guys back on three days rest when it’s meaningful, that’s something that will happen the last 10 days of the season.

“Right now, we’re going to line up well. Every game is important. You can’t minimize the need to play well every night. You would like to try to adjust matchups if you could, but right now is not the right time to do it.”

Twitter: @MikeDiGiovanna