Dodgers place Guerra on DL, call up Tolleson

Published Jun. 4, 2012 1:56 p.m. ET

foxsports

A kid steps up, goes down and is replaced by an even less experienced kid.

Welcome to the new world of the Los Angeles Dodgers, who announced Monday that Javy Guerra was going on the 15-day disabled list with a sore right knee and would be replaced by Shawn Tolleson, who will be making his major-league debut.

There had been no indication that Guerra, who was called up last year and surpassed all expectations, was injured. He did, however, struggle in his last outing Saturday against the Rockies, giving up two hits and a walk in one-third of an inning.

Tolleson, 24, is the team’s reigning minor league pitcher of the year, and cause for a certain degree of excitement.

He’s a strikeout pitcher who was tearing it up at double-A Chattanooga (19 strikeouts to four walks in 13 innings) before getting moved to triple-A Albuquerque last month. He started slowly for the Isotopes but still had an amazing 15 strikeouts to one walk in 9 1/3 innings.

Between the two stops, he is 0-1 with five saves, a 2.82 ERA in 19 relief appearances and has held opponents to a .198 batting average.

Tolleson is a close friend of fellow Texan Clayton Kershaw, Monday’s scheduled starter. Both were in the other’s wedding.

To make room for Tolleson on the 40-man roster, the Dodgers moved reliever Matt Guerrier from the 15-day to the 60-day disabled list. Guerrier, who had a platelet-rich plasma injection to his sore right elbow on Thursday, has already been on the DL since April 19.

Guerra lost his job as the closer but had been pitching well in middle relief. On the season he is 2-3 with a 3.38 ERA with eight saves.

--Steve Dilbeck