Matt Guerrier was barking, so the Dodgers placed him on the disabled list. Whoops – sorry – Manager Don Mattingly said Guerrier’s elbow was barking, so they put him on the DL.
Guerrier actually had been pitching pretty well, at least for someone who the Dodgers said had elbow tendinitis severe enough to be placed on the disabled list Tuesday.
The Dodgers filled his spot on the roster by calling up Michael Antonini from triple-A Albuquerque. The left-hander had been a starter for the Isotopes (1-0, 4.26 ERA in four games).
Antonini, 26, will be making his major-league debut. The Pennsylvania native was acquired from the Mets after the 2010 season in a trade for shortstop Chin-lung Hu.
Guerrier’s DL assignment is retroactive to April 19 and Mattingly said he was hopeful the right-hander would be ready to return in another 10 days. He has not pitched since April 18. Guerrier had an MRI Tuesday and a platelet-rich plasma injection.
“We knew his elbow was barking,” Mattingly said. “We kept extending him. It was kind of getting to be, ‘What’s going on here?’
“Our biggest problem with Matt is, he didn’t know if he throws one day, how he’s going to feel the next day. That puts us in a bind every time he does that.”
Guerrier had a 2.70 ERA and a 1.20 WHIP in seven appearances (6 2/3 innings).
Mattingly said Antonini could be used against left-handed hitters, or as a long man.
Antonini said he had pitched in relief during spring training and during winter ball in Puerto Rico and did not anticipate any problems converting to relief. In his five previous minor-league seasons, he made only two relief appearances.
Antonini said he received a call from Albuquerque Manager Lorenzo Bundy at 1 a.m. to tell him he was taking his first trip to the majors. He then called his mother back in Philadelphia, where it was 2 a.m.
“She was excited,” Antonini said, “[but] taken back by the moment.”
His arrival finally gives the Dodgers two-left handed relievers. Left-hander Scott Elbert has been used in the last two games, and the Braves had four left-handed hitters in their lineup Tuesday.
--Steve Dilbeck
