Chase Silseth's start should be audition for full-time rotation spot somewhere

The Los Angeles Angels have taken each of the first two games of this three-game series against the reeling New York Yankees. The wins have the Angels back at .500, but still 4.5 games back of the final Wild Card spot in the American League.

The Angels need every win they can possibly get to remain in the race, and will turn to Chase Silseth to try and get them over the .500 mark. After the Angels foolishly used Jaime Barria out of the bullpen twice over the weekend, he was no longer a candidate to start this game. With the Angels needing a sixth man, Silseth is the pitcher who will step up from AAA.

The right-hander has had a very strange Angels tenure, and that will continue tonight as he makes this unexpected start. This start should be look as not only an audition for the Angels, but one around the league as well.

LA Angels pitcher Chase Silseth can show a lot with a good start tonight

Silseth has been used in just about any role imaginable this season. He began it as a starter in the minors, then was promoted to the majors to come out of the bullpen. He started in high-leverage spots, then was used more as a long reliever. He even made a spot start for the Angels this season. He then was sent down to stretch back out to start again, and that's what he's done since June.

Silseth's last start was one of the best of his minor league career as he allowed three runs (one earned) in seven innings. He struck out eight, did not walk a batter, and threw 90 pitches. A starter putting up that stat line in the PCL is certainly a rarity.

Silseth will try and put up a good performance tonight against a Yankees offense mired in a long slump. If he does come up and pitch well, I think that should say a lot about his standing value-wise.

The Angels are still undecided when it comes to buying and selling. They want to be buyers, and will do whatever it takes to buy, but at a certain point buying stops making sense. A 4.5 deficit is probably justifiable enough to buy, but anything worse than that is tough to argue.

Silseth pitching well could make him, a 23-year-old with good stuff, a pitcher teams will keep an eye on. It also gives the Angels a potential sixth starter. Jaime Barria is better in the bullpen anyway, so Silseth coming up and taking his spot would be great.

There's a lot of pressure on Silseth and the Angels to win this game and pick up another game on the Yankees in the standings. Let's see what he's got.