SHOWPIECE : Harvey Goes From Triple-A to Angel Stopper to Potential Rookie of the Year

Important Angel discoveries made during the first half of 1988:

--The youth movement is neither all that young nor moving all that well.

--Johnny Ray in left field has been a piece of cake compared to Chili (Pele) Davis in right.

--Cookie Rojas is no Gene Mauch when it comes to a quote, although he does have a handle on hell of a, which he uses a hell of a lot, particularly when one of his pitchers throw a hell of a game.

--Bryan Harvey has had a hell of a first half.

This last development has been a relatively recent one, considering how Harvey’s name was nowhere to be found on the Angels’ roster opening day.

Last winter, he established a Puerto Rican League record by saving 18 games for San Juan, earning him the league’s most-valuable-player award. And since his recall from the triple-A Edmonton club April 21, he has saved 8 games for the Angels, won 2 others, fashioned a 1.33 earned-run average and established himself--at least in the Angels’ eyes--as a candidate for both the All-Star game and American League rookie of the year award.

“He’s got a hell of a shot,” Rojas said. “If he keeps pitching like that, he’ll breeze to it--especially in that role. How many rookie stoppers do you see?

“If he can put together a whole year like his first half, he should be rookie of the year.”

Rojas also calls Harvey, 24, “our savior,” and Greg Minton, the Angels’ 36-year-old relief pitcher, says Harvey “could have 15 to 18 saves by now if he were playing for a contending team.”

So what was Harvey doing opening the season in triple A? The Angels started spring training touting Harvey as the best pitching prospect in the organization. Is there a black hole on the road from Palm Springs to Anaheim?

The way the Angels tell it, Harvey’s fastball went south. During early workouts and exhibition games, radar guns that once clocked Harvey at 96 m.p.h. began spitting out readings of 84, 85, 86.

“I think he had a tired arm in spring training,” Rojas said. “Every time I saw him, even when he just got up to loosen up in the bullpen, he didn’t throw as hard (as he had previously).”

Harvey comes equipped with only two pitches--he also throws a forkball--so when his fastball started running out of gas, Harvey’s star fell quickly.

Harvey said he wasn’t surprised by his absence from the club’s initial 24-player roster.

“Look at who they had in the bullpen,” he said. “Donnie Moore was healthy, Bicey (DeWayne Buice) was coming off a big year, Stew (Cliburn) was healthy. I knew they wanted a left-hander (Frank DiMichele) out of the bullpen and (Ray) Krawczyk did a heck of a job in the spring.

“I didn’t have my good fastball then. I had no arm speed, no pop on the ball. I saw (the roster cut) coming before it happened.

“Luckily, after I got to Edmonton, I found my fastball kind of early and I got back here quick. Things worked out well.”

Credit Oakland catcher Ron Hassey with an assist for that. Hassey’s three-run homer off Moore on the fateful afternoon of April 20 turned an 8-6 Angel lead into a 9-8 Angel defeat and climaxed a week of Angel bullpen disasters.

“We’ve got to find somebody who can do the job from the damned bullpen,” Rojas fumed in his office afterward. “If we can’t find anybody here who can stop ‘em, we’ll have to make some changes.”

Harvey was the first change. He was recalled from Edmonton, where, after some rest and weight training, he picked up 2 saves and a 3.18 ERA while registering in the 90s again on the radar gun. He replaced DiMichele and by his fourth appearance, he had his first Angel victory after a three-inning scoreless stint April 29 against Toronto.

By May 9, he had his first save. And by May 11, when Moore was put on the disabled list because of a knee irritation, Harvey was entrenched as the Angels’ No. 1 short reliever.

“At first, we used him in middle relief and he did that,” Rojas said. “Then, short relief. With the poise and composure he showed there, we made him the stopper. And he’s been a hell of a stopper.

“Now, he’s settled that problem and, because of that, we’ve getting other problems settled. Stew Cliburn knows his role of middle man. Greg Minton knows his role of set-up man. Sherman Corbett is the left-hander. . . . Harvey has helped us straighten out the whole bullpen.”

Moore has since returned from the disabled list, but not to his old assignment as late-inning closer.

“Harvey’s our No. 1 stopper,” Rojas said. “No doubt about that. How can you argue against that?”

Rojas has driven that point home often. He has lifted Mike Witt and Chuck Finley from shutouts with two out in the ninth inning, both times handing the ball to Harvey. Both times, Harvey protected the leads, so subsequent complaints have been muffled.

Harvey saved three games in May, ending the month with an ERA of 0.36, and saved five more in June. His fastball, in the 92-m.p.h. range, has enabled him to strike out 38 batters in 40 innings.

Ahead is the All-Star game July 12. Rojas believes Harvey should pitch in it.

“Both he and Johnny Ray deserve to be in the All-Star game,” Rojas said.

And just starting to acquire steam is the push for Harvey as rookie of the year. It’s the right kind of year--a year lacking a Jose Canseco, a Mark McGwire or even an Ozzie Guillen. This year, so far, Harvey’s main competition is Oakland shortstop Walt Weiss, who’s batting .246; Toronto Blue Jays’ reliever David Wells, who has a 3-4 with a 4.36 ERA and 4 saves, and Chicago White Sox starter Melido Perez, 6-5 with a 4.01 ERA.

In that field, Harvey’s numbers stack up fairly well.

Harvey hears this type of speculation and smiles. His response to all this is exactly what one might expect from a three-month big league veteran who was born in Chattanooga, Tenn., and currently calls Sherrills Ford, N.C., home:

Aw, shucks.

“I’m very surprised,” Harvey said in the drawl that earns him daily ribbing in the Angel clubhouse. “When you come up here, the guys are so good, it’s hard to believe you can get them out this many times.

“Everything possible is going good for me right now. I can’t complain about nothin’. My arm feels good, I’m gettin’ people out, everything’s goin’ perfect. Sooner or later, something else is gonna happen--I’m kinda ready for that. This ain’t gonna happen forever. It can’t.”

Can it?

Minton, who has spent more than a decade in major league bullpens, suspects that Harvey may be a different breed of rookie reliever.

“Most guys, even though they’re ticketed to be the short man, come in and work a year of middle relief,” Minton said. “Then, they become the set-up man. They need that time to more or less settle down. But Bryan just came in and took the job. That’s because it’s just about impossible to settle him down any more than he is. He’s about the most low-key guy in the world--just a good ol’ country boy. If he happens to make the All-Star team, he’ll just say, ‘Golly gee whiz.’ ”

Minton leaned back in a chair and launched into his Bryan Harvey impression.

“Ah got two pitches here and ah’m gonna throw ya one er the other,” Minton drawled. “Hit my fastball and ah’ll throw ya my piece.”