ANAHEIM, Calif. – Angels second baseman Howie Kendrick has avoided a trip to the disabled list, at least for the next few days, after suffering a sprained left knee Monday night.
An MRI on Tuesday showed no structural damage, manager Mike Scioscia said, so the team will wait to see how quickly Kendrick recovers.
"The long and short of it is, we'll give him four or five days to see how it progresses," Scioscia said. "It looks like everything is OK. Obviously, he's very, very sore and very stiff, but we're going to give it a couple of days to play out and see how it goes."
Kendrick suffered the injury in the fifth inning against the Texas Rangers, colliding with right fielder Collin Cowgill as they both pursued a shallow fly ball off the bat of Elvis Andrus.
After the game, Kendrick sounded optimistic, telling reporters, "Hopefully, it'll only be a couple of days." He was not in the clubhouse before Tuesday's game, but Scioscia said there was swelling in the knee and Kendrick was walking stiffly.
The Angels called up infielder Grant Green from Triple-A Salt Lake and sent down pitcher Daniel Stange. Green was acquired last week from the Oakland A's in the trade for third baseman Alberto Callaspo and started Tuesday's game at second base.
Scioscia said Green, Chris Nelson and Tommy Field could share the job at second if Kendrick is sidelined for a while, saying he was prepared to "mix and match."
"If we have to adjust in four or five days, we can, either with Howie coming back and making a move or Howie going on the DL, if it happens," Scioscia said. "But we should be able to work around it, especially with the off day (Thursday)."
On another front, Scioscia said left-handed reliever Sean Burnett will undergo surgery Wednesday to repair a torn flexor tendon in his left elbow. Noted orthopedic surgeon Dr. James Andrews will perform the operation.
"The prognosis is definitely good for next year," Scioscia said.
Burnett signed a two-year, $8-million contract last winter but pitched in just 13 games and finished with a 0.93 ERA in 9 2/3 innings.
