The solution, for the Angels, could be a six-man rotation, a device that teams have tried periodically, though rarely for long. In the Angels’ case, the idea could help them smooth Shohei Ohtani’s heralded entry to the major leagues.

Ohtani, the pitching and slugging phenom, chose the Angels last week after leaving the Nippon Ham Fighters in Japan. He has been dominant on the mound, with 10.3 strikeouts per nine innings in his career, and a 2.52 earned run average. But he has never made more than 24 starts in a season in Japan, where teams use six-man rotations.

Scioscia has said only that he is considering a six-man arrangement, without committing to it. But General Manager Billy Eppler sees the way baseball is heading. The Houston Astros won the World Series last season and used no pitcher for more than 153⅓ innings. The team they beat, the Dodgers, had just one pitcher who crossed that threshold.

Neither team used a six-man rotation, but as pitchers throw harder and injuries rise, more teams are spreading around their innings. Six-man rotations could be a more structured way to do it.

“That’s been the way the game’s been trending, historically, if you look back,” Eppler said. “I’ve spoken with some other clubs about that concept, and there’s some other clubs that are considering it. If it can help keep guys healthy and you’re able to get a little bit more reliability out of your pitchers because of it, I’m all for it.”